{"id":190013,"date":"2025-06-12T13:29:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T18:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=190013"},"modified":"2025-06-12T20:37:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T01:37:56","slug":"how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-190014\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Brush-Pass-2.jpg\" alt=\"Infographic showing two men discreetly passing a note with a brush pass, a classic Cold War spy technique\u2014emphasizing relaxed hands, no eye contact, natural walking, and a subtle transfer without stopping.\" width=\"750\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Brush-Pass-2.jpg 750w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Brush-Pass-2-320x427.jpg 320w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Brush-Pass-2-640x853.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ai-optimize-6 ai-optimize-introduction\" data-start=\"359\" data-end=\"721\">Your contact is somewhere in this sea of faces, but you can&#8217;t be seen talking to him \u2014 can&#8217;t even acknowledge his existence. One wrong move, one glance from the wrong person, and years of careful work \u2014 not to mention your life \u2014 could be over in an instant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ai-optimize-7\" data-start=\"723\" data-end=\"1041\">This is where the brush pass comes in. A technique perfected during the Cold War, it allowed spies to exchange documents, money, or other small items without ever appearing to interact. Two operatives would simply walk past each other, and in that brief, choreographed moment, critical intelligence would change hands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ai-optimize-8\" data-start=\"1043\" data-end=\"1314\">You may not be running clandestine ops behind the Iron Curtain, but the brush pass remains one of the most elegant and discreet ways to transfer something unnoticed. Requiring subtle technique and magician-like sleight of hand, it&#8217;s a master art of secret-agent subterfuge.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words ai-optimize-6 ai-optimize-introduction\"><em>Illustration by <a href=\"https:\/\/storytellersworkshop.com\/\">Ted Slampyak<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your contact is somewhere in this sea of faces, but you can&#8217;t be seen talking to him \u2014 can&#8217;t even acknowledge his existence. One wrong move, one glance from the wrong person, and years of careful work \u2014 not to mention your life \u2014 could be over in an instant. This is where the brush [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":190031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[42260,42259,229],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","category-skills","category-visual-guides"],"featured_image_urls":{"aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3-320x167.jpg"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your contact is somewhere in this sea of faces, but you can&#8217;t be seen talking to him \u2014 can&#8217;t even acknowledge his existence. One wrong move, one glance from the wrong person, and years of careful work \u2014 not to mention your life \u2014 could be over in an instant. This is where the brush [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T18:29:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-13T01:37:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a7b087556bf906b866d7fe5e2d01e602\"},\"headline\":\"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-12T18:29:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-13T01:37:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/\"},\"wordCount\":159,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"How To\",\"Skills\",\"Visual Guides\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/\",\"name\":\"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-12T18:29:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-13T01:37:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg\",\"width\":538,\"height\":280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men&#039;s Interest and Lifestyle\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Art of Manliness\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg\",\"width\":432,\"height\":432,\"caption\":\"Art of Manliness\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/artofmanliness\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/artofmanliness\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/artofmanliness\/\",\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/artofmanliness\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a7b087556bf906b866d7fe5e2d01e602\",\"name\":\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy | The Art of Manliness","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy | The Art of Manliness","og_description":"Your contact is somewhere in this sea of faces, but you can&#8217;t be seen talking to him \u2014 can&#8217;t even acknowledge his existence. One wrong move, one glance from the wrong person, and years of careful work \u2014 not to mention your life \u2014 could be over in an instant. This is where the brush [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Manliness","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","article_published_time":"2025-06-12T18:29:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-13T01:37:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":538,"height":280,"url":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brett &amp; Kate McKay","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@artofmanliness","twitter_site":"@artofmanliness","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brett &amp; Kate McKay","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/"},"author":{"name":"Brett &amp; Kate McKay","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a7b087556bf906b866d7fe5e2d01e602"},"headline":"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy","datePublished":"2025-06-12T18:29:07+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-13T01:37:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/"},"wordCount":159,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg","articleSection":["How To","Skills","Visual Guides"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/","name":"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy | The Art of Manliness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-12T18:29:07+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-13T01:37:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brush-pass3.jpg","width":538,"height":280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-do-a-brush-pass-like-a-cold-war-spy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Do a Brush Pass Like a Cold War Spy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/","name":"The Art of Manliness","description":"Men&#039;s Interest and Lifestyle","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization","name":"Art of Manliness","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg","width":432,"height":432,"caption":"Art of Manliness"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","https:\/\/x.com\/artofmanliness","http:\/\/instagram.com\/artofmanliness","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/artofmanliness\/","http:\/\/youtube.com\/artofmanliness"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a7b087556bf906b866d7fe5e2d01e602","name":"Brett &amp; Kate McKay","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}