No more dishpan hands

Posted by RRC on October 13, 2006

In Reply to: No more dishpan hands posted by Gary Martin on October 13, 2006

: : On another site, there was a discussion of "antique words." The discussion was triggered by a forum member who tried to buy a "dishpan" because her dishwasher was on the fritz. The young clerk had never heard of such a thing.

: : Of course that made me think of a phrase: No more dishpan hands. It was the slogan of a TV ad. Does anyone know what brand, etc.? I googled and it was attributed to Lux and to Ivory soap. One site said Irene Hubbard was the first woman to appear on TV in an "dishpan hands" ad.

: I've binned a dishwasher too recently - I realised that I quite like washing up. In the UK we have washing-up bowls. Are they the same as dishpans?

Yes, dishpans = washing-up bowls (and dishwashing liquid = washing-up liquid).

I found a speech by Harry Truman Oct 29 1952 which contains "No fuss, no mess, no dishpan hands!"

I found one transcript showing that Lever Bros.' Lux Flakes was using the words "dishpan hands" but not "no more" on the radio in 1947.

People also seem to associate it with Palmolive though their TV ad catch-phrases were "you're soaking in it" and "softens your hands while you do the dishes".