Vault Boy

This figure known as “Vault Boy” is depicted in various places around the fallout world. The vault boy is used in advertisements promoting the underground vaults in case of an emergency (1). Although seemingly positive, Vault Boy is representative of the fear of nuclear warfare. He is seen holding his thumb up with one eye closed, which we figure out very quickly is how people in the army used to judge the size of a bomb. If the bomb is smaller than the size of the thumb, get to running. If it is bigger, there is no point in running… In displaying such a positive looking figure to talk about a horrible possibility, it hints at the capitalist motives for nuclear warfare. In the case of bombs falling, companies that build vaults will prosper. This suggests that the Cold War could be a means for many to gain money at the expense of others. Just like Cold War propaganda swaying domestic support around the US, the company “Vault-tec” was using this figure to sway public opinion and promote the use of vaults for their own economic gain.