blast: Your factoid reminded me of something I learned as a teenager. I had this wonderful great aunt, who was also a great storyteller. One day, when visiting at our house, the old “ancient Chinese secret” commercial came on the TV. She started to laugh and then went into one of her stories that I will never forget.
When she was a child in the 1890’s they lived in a house (in what was then the small town) of Los Angeles. She was from a prominent family, and it therefore the Chinese laundry workers would come into their house to do the family laundry. Her father, realizing the hardship posed on the Chinese, had the children sit with them in the bad yard and converse with them while doing their jobs, in order to assist them in learning English.
(At this point, my aunt started giggling and could hardly get the rest of the story out).
The method that the man used for removing stains was to fill his mouth with water, squish it around, wait as long as possible and then stand back and spit the contents of his mouth full force onto the stubborn area. Amazingly, after several attempts, the stain would magically disappear and he would smile at her.
Nearly 80 years later, my aunt figured out his secret, through a TV ad, no less. Enzymes!