#18 Postcard Trivia 3.20.18
Are you a card-carrying member of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Squirrels? I'm not either, but if you would like to achieve this honor, keep reading! This postcard from the 1930's, is a view of the Lookout Tower on Reddish Knob in the George Washington National Forest that borders Virginia and West Virginia. The tower belonged to the National Forest Service and provided rangers with a lookout to watch for forest fires. Towers like this one were located in all of our national forests in the first half of the 20th century. The back of this postcard invites visitors to climb to the top and become a member of the Squirrel Club. To encourage citizens to assist with forest fire prevention, the forest rangers presented hikers who climbed to the top of their tower with a card designating them as members of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Squirrels. According to the Appalachian Mountain Club website, this was printed on the back of the Squirrel Card: The hardest nut the U.S. Forest Service and the State Conservation Departments have to crack is the problem of man-caused forest fires. As a member of the Squirrel Club I volunteer to help crack this nut by using the utmost care with fire in the woods as I work, as I walk, as I ride, as I camp.
Many of the lookout towers are no longer standing, including the one on this postcard. It was dismantled in 1975. (see photo of site below) However, the National Forest Service still maintains some towers and some of them still present hikers with a Squirrel Card when they reach the top! Chris McKitterick posted a photo of his hard-earned Squirrel Card from the lookout tower in Pike National Forest on his Live Journal website in 2010 (see photo below). He noted that the two hikers who signed the ranger's visitor book before him listed their ages as 72 and 73. So, no excuses! Let's find a lookout tower and start climbing!
The Squirrel Club campaign was phased out in the early 1940s when the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Program started a new ad campaign using Smokey Bear. Smokey has used three slogans to remind us about fire prevention. Which of these is Smokey's current slogan, updated in 2001?
A. "Smokey Says - Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires" B. "Remember - Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires"
C. "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires"
Hover over image above or touch image to reveal answer.
