The Civil Defense Administration was a pre-War branch of the United States federal government responsible for disseminating information about how to survive a nuclear bomb, as well as emergency relief in the aftermath of a possible nuclear war.
Background[]
The Civil Defense Administration was created to coordinate relief efforts and disaster response in the aftermath of a nuclear war. One of the administration's mascots was the kid-friendly Bert the Turtle, who was featured on one of its posters practicing "Duck and Cover!" The agency advocated the use of air raid shelters during a nuclear strike.[1]
In the interests of national security, the administration also asked banks to keep an eye out for the use of foreign currencies, such as the Chinese Yuan, as well as to trigger a silent alarm and to delay customers using such currencies as long as possible without arousing suspicion.[2]
Appearances[]
The Civil Defense Administration is mentioned in Fallout 3 and its add-on Point Lookout, as well as Fallout: New Vegas concept art. Posters for the administration also appear in Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Federal Civil Defense Administration was a real world agency.
- The "Where will YOU be when the Holocaust comes?" CDA poster is a combination of two real world propaganda posters. The first is the 1920 Dmitrii Moor "Have you volunteered?" poster, which the CDA poster seen in-game mirrors the pose of. The second is the 1956 "Serving YOU in time of emergency" National Civil Defense Week poster made by the real world Federal Civil Defense Administration, which inspired the appearance of the CDA volunteer and the background of the in game poster.
- The previously mentioned poster, "Where will YOU be when the Holocaust comes?", is copied onto a slide used in a Fallout 3 loading screen. The loading screen version of the poster has the Vault-Tec logo, instead of the Civil Defense Administration.
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