Great Grandma Got High Doing Laundry?

This vintage recipe is another non-food recipe, but when I saw it in the household section of the A&P book, I was hoping for a sure-fire cure for my husband's greasy clothes. The paragraph was titled "Cleaning Oil or Grease from Men's clothing."

An excellent way to remove grease spots from boys' and men's clothing particularly, is made of four parts alcohol to one part ammonia and about half as much ether as amonia. Apply the liquid to the grease spot and rub diligently with a sponge and clear water. The chemistry of the operation seems to be that the alcohol and ether dissolve the grease and the ammonia forms a soap with it which is washed away with the water. The result is much more than when something is used which only seems to spread the spot and make it fainter, but does not actually remove it. If oil is spilt on the carpet and you immediately scatter corn meal over it, the oil will be absorbed by it. Oil may also be removed from carpets on which you do not dare put ether and ammonia, by laying thick blotting paper over it and pressing a hot flatiron on it. Repeat the operation several times, using a clean paper each time.

I cannot wonder how many women tried this little trick and ended up passed out cold? Ether? You could buy ether? My goodness!