public service announcements Archives - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

Why Did Kids Have to Be Warned About Blasting Caps?

I remember seeing these warnings as a kid. They showed us what blasting caps looked like and told us never to touch one. Even then, I wondered: Why would I ever find one? Why weren’t the adults keeping them locked up?

We recently posted an old public service announcement with Willie Mays warning kids about blasting caps. Seeing it again brought that question right back. The warnings weren’t limited to Boy Scout posters, either. They appeared in films, public service announcements and other safety materials.

The danger was real. An explosives industry report said six boys were injured in five blasting cap incidents in 1989. Its conclusion was that the injuries apparently resulted from adults storing the caps improperly or illegally. A later report described children finding caps beside a road, near a park and even during a school trip to a lighthouse in Connecticut.

Of course kids needed to know: don’t touch one, and tell an adult. But that warning only came into play after someone had left a dangerous explosive where a child could find it.

We don’t see those old television spots much anymore, although the “Don’t Touch” warning still exists. I’m glad Willie Mays told kids to be careful. I just wish the adults handling the blasting caps had always been as careful.

Do you remember seeing these warnings growing up? Did you ever wonder why kids needed them in the first place?

The Owl Who Taught Us Not to Litter

“Give a hoot, don’t pollute!” Those six words made Woodsy Owl one of the most memorable public-service characters of the 1970s.

The U.S. Forest Service introduced Woodsy in 1971 to teach children that preventing pollution was everyone’s responsibility. Harold Bell helped create the character with Forest Service advisers Glenn Kovar, Betty Conrad Hite and Chuck Williams while they were working on the television series Lassie. Williams supplied the slogan that turned an owl’s “hoot” into an unforgettable environmental message.

Woodsy appeared in television and radio spots, educational films, posters, coloring sheets, bookmarks, decals and classroom kits. The Forest Service even sent a costumed Woodsy into schools to teach children about littering and conservation.

One of Woodsy’s familiar voices belonged to Sterling Holloway, whom generations also knew as Disney’s Winnie the Pooh. Woodsy became so popular that he received his own Gold Key comic-book series and was soon recognized by most American families with children.

His message later expanded to “Lend a Hand, Care for the Land,” encouraging people to do more than simply avoid littering. Even so, the original slogan remains the one many of us immediately remember.

Did Woodsy Owl make you think twice before dropping something on the ground?

Before We Called Them STDs, TV Warned Us About VD

Before most people used the term STDs, television PSAs warned viewers about VD, short for venereal disease. And one of the most unforgettable ones was the 1970s spot remembered as “VD is for Everybody.”

The message was serious: venereal disease could affect anyone, and people should not be embarrassed to get information or see a doctor. But what made the PSA so memorable was how oddly cheerful it was, with upbeat music and everyday people smiling along to a topic that was not exactly dinner-table conversation.

A lot of kids probably remembered the song before they had any idea what VD even meant. Looking back, it is one of those very 1970s public service announcements that was awkward, catchy, and impossible to forget.

Smokey Bear’s Creepiest PSA?

Before CGI, jump scares, and viral ads, Smokey Bear managed to give some of us a double take with one strange little public service announcement. Actress Joanna Cassidy calmly warned viewers about forest fires, then removed her red-haired “mask” to reveal she was actually Smokey Bear underneath.

It was supposed to remind us that everyone has a part to play in preventing forest fires. But if you saw it as a kid, you probably remembered the face-removal trick just as much as the message.

Effective? Absolutely.

A little creepy? Also absolutely.