In 1942, the “Hollywood Victory Caravan” traveled the U.S., helmed by big-name stars like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, to raise millions of dollars for war bonds. In 1986, political activists in California decided to try that approach to raise awareness of a new ballot proposition.

The “Clean Water Caravan” gathered nearly 40 big-name celebrities of the time — many of whom are still famous today — for a stumping trip from San Diego to San Francisco. People like Jane Fonda, Chevy Chase, Cher and Whoopi Goldberg all traveled by, shockingly, Greyhound bus to campaign for Proposition 65, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act.

“I want to be able to drink the water without risking my life or the life of my children,” Jane Fonda reportedly told a crowd at the time.

FILE: Kristy McNichol, left, Whoopi Goldberg, center, and Jane Fonda are pictured shortly before they joined more than two dozen other celebrities who set off from MGM Studios on a nine-city, 14-stop caravan to gather support for Proposition 65, as seen on Sept. 26, 1986.

Prop. 65 called for requiring businesses to warn consumers that a product could cause cancer or reproductive harm if it included certain chemicals. It also prohibited companies from discharging those same chemicals into water. The water element had the A-listers particularly up in arms, with actress Morgan Fairchild telling the LA Times, “Stars drink water too. I have as good a chance of having a deformed child in Beverly Hills as a woman drinking polluted water in Eureka.”

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“The bottom line is that your children are going to die!” Goldberg separately warned a San Diego crowd, according to the paper.

FILE: Actor Rob Lowe, left, and actress Rosanna Arquette attend a benefit to support Prop. 65 on Sept. 27, 1986, at Lorimar Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif.

The whole thing was a spectacle, with celebrities issuing extremely dire warnings and also just generally attracting quite a bit of attention. Just this year, actor Rob Lowe shared a memorable moment about the caravan: He and Michael J. Fox were caught smoking pot on the rooftop of one of the buses, causing it to get pulled over. A very star-struck CHP officer chose not to give any citations, according to reports at the time.

But little did they know that this spectacle would jump-start the passage of one of California’s most controversial propositions.

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Prop. 65 passed on Nov. 4, 1986, with 63% voter approval, and cancer warning labels started hitting shelves not long after.

Even the occasional California visitor has........

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