The Owl

One Strange Thing: True Paranormal Mysteries

Laurah Norton

Paranormalpodcast, History, True Crime, Paranormal, Mystery

4.6 • 763 Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2020

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In "The Owl," we explore the backstory of Woodsy the Owl, the lovable federal mascot who joined Smokey the Bear in 1970 to help deliver important public service announcements. There's just one problem: some believe Woodsy's past is more complicated than it seems. One Strange Thing: True Paranormal Mysteries explores the archives of the unexplained, blending rigorous historical research with a wry, skeptical wit to investigate true supernatural stories and baffling mysteries that made headlines. Dive into our Episode Mystery Archive — a curated, topic-organized source for documented hauntings, UFO sightings, cryptids, folklore, and bizarre true mysteries. Check it out here! https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/episodes-by-topic-mystery-archive Pre order Laurah's book LAY THEM TO REST: https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/laurah-norton/lay-them-to-rest/9780306828805/ Special thanks to voice actors Phillip Hargrove, Maura Currie, Bradley George and Celeste Headlee. Written and hosted by Laurah Norton Produced, scored, and edited by Maura Currie Researched by Liv Fallon with additional research by Laurah Norton Sources on our website: onestrangethingpodcast.com Join us on Patreon for early release and ad-free episodes, exclusive stories, and bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/OneStrangeThing Find us on twitter.com/OSTPod instagram.com/onestrangethingpod facebook.com/One-Strange-Thing-114307627035607 Want to advertise on or sponsor our show? We have partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. They're great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started. https://www.advertisecast.com/OneStrangeThing

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Laura Norton, and this is one strange thing.
0:08.3	The show where we searched the nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained. The U.S. has a long history with cartoon mascots, and not just Tony the tiger or that rabbit who peddles all the cereal.
0:36.5	For a long time, cartoons,
0:38.9	especially cartoon animals,
0:41.1	have taught us lessons, too.
0:43.3	Whether paid for by the feds or by nonprofits,
0:47.1	scores of animals have been printed on t-shirts
0:50.0	and educational coloring books
0:52.2	or turned into costumes
0:53.7	to be worn at elementary school assemblies.
0:57.3	Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and lesser-known characters like Milkshake the Cow and Franklin the Fair Housing Fox.
1:07.8	By the way, we didn't make that last one up.
1:15.7	And then there's Woodsey, a friendly owl in a Peter Pan cap, who always reminds us, give a hoot. Don't pollute. Woodsey is a mascot of the United
1:23.6	States Forest Service and was created in 1970 to solve a problem.
1:29.3	Before Woodsy the Owl, there was someone else you've probably heard of, Smokey the Bear.
1:36.3	Smokey debuted in a 1940s public service announcement produced by the Forest Service.
1:42.3	Back then, he was a grim-faced grizzly with a less than stellar catchphrase.
1:48.0	Smokey says, care will prevent nine out of ten forest fires.
1:53.0	Alterations were soon made.
1:56.0	He kept that drab, khaki campaign hat, the one that's issued to all forest rangers. But the lines of
2:03.7	his bear face were softened, and he was given a much better pitch. By 1950, every American
2:11.1	child would have been familiar with Smokey the Bears' call to action. Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.
	...

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