On this day in history – August 9, 1944 – Smoky the Bear made his debut appearance. The first poster featuring the iconic jeans wearing bear was illustrated by Albert Staehle. In it Smokey sports both his modest (yet durable) pants choice as well as the well recognized campaign hat that is still worn by National Park Service personnel to this day. He is show pouring a bucket of water on a campfire, with a message below the image reading, “Smoky says – Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!”