Smokey Bear Museum and Gift Shop

P.O. Box 246, Capitan, NM 88316

Phone: 505-354-2247

Fax: 505-354-2713

Village Home Page

    Smokey's Museum opened in 1961, having been dedicated in 1958, the rustic one room building almost bursts with Smokey memorabilia, photos and posters chronicling his life history. Engaging drawings by Rudy Wendelin and Harold Walter's enlarged photos catch visitors' eyes first. In one of Walter's photos, the cub Smokey looks up at the first poster of Smokey Bear. In another, the tiny Smokey crawls over Judy Bell's knee.

    Smokey's extraordinarily powerful marketing impact offer a nice touch of nostalgia. Milton Bradley's Smokey Bear game, Smokey canteens, books, hats, dolls, watches, pens, scarves, rulers, and Viewmaster reels are piled beside Smokey mugs, patches, ranger station banks, shovels, Junior Forest Ranger badges, magic slates, ashtrays, coins, stamps, comics and sweatshirts.

    Six thick scrapbooks trumpet Smokey's achievements as if he were a high school athlete. Newspaper clippings, magazine articles and fan letters bring Smokey's fairy tale story to life.

    The Museum is located at 102 Smokey Bear Blvd., on the north side of State Highway 380, just west of the intersection with State Highway 48, and just east of the Smokey Bear Historical Park.

    Hours of Operation:

Summer between Memorial day and Labor day
9:00 am. to 5:00 pm.
Winter
9:00 am. to 4:00 pm.

Closed
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years day

To Contact the Museum:
Phone (505) 354-2298
Email to: village@zianet.com


A view of the entrance to the Smokey Bear Museum and Gift Shop.	A view of the front door of the Museum, notice the bear cub in the tree at the left. Kevin Wolff, a Capitan woodworker, built the replica of the young Smokey in 1980 to replace a wooden one destroyed in a windstorm.

View of the many pictures on the history of Smokey Bear.	More of the many pictures on the history of Smokey Bear.

View of one of the display cases filled with Smokey Bear memorabilia.	Many of the donations received over the years of Smokey Bear memorabilia.

Another display case with Smokey Bear 50th anniversary memorabilia.	A view other end of the museum, also showing some of the items that are for sale in the gift shop.

A view of the museum, showing more of the items that are for sale in the gift shop.	A view of some of the spoons patches, pins, and watches that are available. A closer view of the different items can been seen by moving your mouse pointer over the items in the case.

Contact Webmaster at village@zianet.com
Page Created February 24, 2002
Last up Date July 28, 2002