Back in 1948, a Soviet delegate at the UN actually claimed that Soviet women were banned from foreign travel because Western wives became kitchen slaves and developed dishpan hands—citing American detergent ads as evidence. When dishpan hands gave the Soviet Union a reason to restrict travel, history got a little more bizarre and a lot more bubbly.

Victor Lebedev’s 1948 claim, echoing “when dishpan hands gave the Soviet Union a reason to restrict travel,” sparked laughter abroad and confusion at home. This curious episode immortalized dishpan hands as unexpected Cold War propaganda, sudsy proof that even soapsuds could stoke global tension.