Talk:Woodsy Owl/Archives/2012

I created Woodsy
Hello I created Woodsy the Owl in 1969-1970 as a fifth grader in Roseville,MI with the winning of an Ecology Themed Poster Contest. The U.S Forestry Service has been investigating the matter of who is the actual creator and as of yet still does not have an answer. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.149.191.36 (talk • contribs).


 * This is incorrect. -- Stbalbach 18:40, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

William Smith created Woodsy
Regarding this edit by an anon user that "William Smith" created Woodsy..
 * This is incorrect. -- Stbalbach 18:40, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Woodsy Owl
I read all this junk about so and so created Woodsy Owl, it's all bogus. I remember the little girl who drew Woodsy Owl, I was in her class at Fredrick Maryland Elementry School, we were in the fifth grade together, if I remember correctly, her name was Lisa-don't remember the last name though, this was in 1970. If anything, whoever got the credit for it stole it from her. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bettyscott (talk • contribs) 03:52, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

I completely disagree with your statement that a girl in your class in 1970 created this slogan. Of course I never named the Owl Woodsy, but I did come up the slogan and the owl concept and submitted during the contest. The fact that the winner was never given recognition and the accolades that they deserved makes the whole history of its creation of mystery. I came up with that idea, created the slogan and drew the Owl myself in my 5th grade class at Radcliffe Elementary School, in Nutley, New Jersey. I would like to have proveable documentation, but with the contest and all the submissions from across the country, I guess the winner was never announced. I would like to receive my just recognination and all that goes along with being the winner of this contest, so more research is needed to prove who the actual winner of that contest is. At that time I didn't know it was a nation wide contest, I thought it was a state contest, but that doesn't change who the actual winner is. I'm interested in finding out the truth as to why the winner "me" was never given the winner title for this contest. It will be intesting to once and for all put this to rest. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.109.190.127 (talk) 10:57, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Burned costume
Regarding this section moved here:
 * In order to thoroughly replace with the new image, the Forest Service has called for all old Woodsy Owl costumes to be burnt under the supervision of a USDA Forest Service law enforcement officer until they are destroyed beyond recognition. The only exceptions are costumes that are being used in museum displays.

This is giggly snickering trivia and hardly worth mention on Wikipedia, sourced or not. It is standard practice, when replacing brand items, to remove older brand items from the market to prevent brand confusion. The way this reads, it sounds like something from Fox News, "Woodsy Owl burned by the government!" - it's just stupid to include it and make something out of nothing. If someone thinks it should be included, please justify why the remove of the old brand costume from inventory is notable. 71.191.40.106 (talk) 15:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Keep an eye on this article
An anon user keeps deleting the history (cited and documented) of who created Woodsy Owl. . This user believes they, personally, created Woodsy Owl and would like to remove any public record to the contrary. Until this user is able to provide cited evidence of why this information is wrong, than please do not delete it. Thank you. 71.191.40.106 (talk) 15:54, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

What is with people saying they created Woodsy Owl?
Was there a contest held in 1970 and kids all across America drew what they thought Woodsy looked like and all the kids that drew something vaguely like the final product decided it was their drawing that won? In all seriousness, I have an aunt that claims she created Woodsy Owl. I decided to check the wiki page to see if there was any information about Woodsy and lo and behold EVERYBODY seems to think they created Woodsy. I can't come up with a logical explanation for this other than kids thinking they created Woodsy. BrainRotMenacer (talk) 04:38, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes in 1970 there was a contest for fifth graders to creat a symbol of taking care of our ecosystem. I was the winner of that contest when I created the slogan "Give a Hoot Don't Pollute" along with a drawing of the owl. I have no idea how so many claim to be the winner's of that contest, but it was "I" who created this slogan and never received the recognition for it, after it was submitted, it became a national symbol, but it was never recognized as to who submitted that winning slogan and drawing. I am profoundly sad to see that others are making claim to something I myself created. And who is Charles Williams ? He claims to have created this, and that would be impossible. The government took a contest and picked my submission as the winner, with the accolades that go along with it. How can I prove this ? Go back to the 1970 contest and research all the submissions, let's get the truth resolved and the proper person who can lay claim to this popular symbol. I would never take credit for something if I wasn't absolutely sure I created in that classroom in the 5th grade, at Radcliffe Elementary School in Nutley New Jersey. Give credit where credit is due. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.109.190.127 (talk) 10:47, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Could it have been possible that multiple 5th graders in 1970 drew a picture of an owl in a robin hood hat?
Just stating the obvious here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.110.194.41 (talk) 17:57, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

South Park
I again removed the South Park paragraph because its not relevant and is inappropriate especially since Woodsy is a character that is geared and marketed towards children and to add that he is a child molester may cause problems, confuse and scare off any child that maybe reading this article for their own information or for a class project and as a result erroneously believing that Woodsy is indeed a pedophille and child molester which he is not. Don't kid yourself children are very smart and if they find something on the Internet such as an accusation of someone or something being harmful to their being there is a good chance they will believe it without any other proof. 71.101.84.3 (talk) 04:22, 1 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok, I only read this talk thread after I added reference. So I considered what you said here for a moment, and still think that adding a cultural reference (of Woodsy appearing in one of the popular cartoon TV series) is relevant and in line with many other articles containing similar popular culture cross-references. If you really want, please put necessary disclaimers for kids around the entry in the article (maybe explaining what a spoof or satire is - to make it clear to the kids that this is not real explanation of what Woodsy is about) but don't remove the reference. Besides, if you are making a point about kids being smart, let them figure it out on their own. In general, it's not a good idea to start policing Wikipedia for content, using personal judgment about what substitutes principal audience for any specific article, and then making another judgment on what is/isn't appropriate for that perceived audience. So leave it be and add the relevant factual content if you feel it's needed.cherkash (talk) 18:05, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Thanks to the Historical Forestry Society
As an illustrator and environmental enthusiast working in my life both professionally and privately I have become astounded at the experiences received while uncovering the history behind the owl. Initially I rather staunchly attempted to reclaim what I felt was the historical information gathered over the years from newspaper articles, life histories and other information sources normally taken for granted in academia and the media. If I had known what has been revealed to me over the past few years in the beginning it probably would not have made a difference considering the fact it appears very little has changed in the world pertaining to greed. In fact apparently things have gotten undeniably worse. I sought to create a historical account of what happened, after all that is what I had been trained to do in graduate school. What I found was a rigid information gathering iconoclastic circus that had no intention of hearing or seeing the truth in how a simple shall we say undressed bird and slogan were originally depicted and presented to the world at large. After submitting a bit of documented information to the halls of historical copy-right despotism it was clear they where waiting for me with rebuffs. Those slightly toned down once the realisation set into motion the fact that amid contested confusion over the designer togs an assigned gender gave power to a bully denying all the previous children's award winning embellishments. Clearly the bird now male has a registry of documented parents. Historical fiction is now up for interpretation. So be it, truth apparently in this world comes at a premium worth threatening peoples integrity with lawsuits and stooping to blatant attacks against mental equity, low to say the least. Facticity been told, starlight and change the bird as you will, the touch, timing and original talent will always belong to me unharmed by discredit. What happened was a beautiful and cosmic story too precious to be sullied by print or a comic strip. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Argus10 (talk • contribs) 22:58, 23 October 2012 (UTC)