History Main / ChineseLaunderer

Laundry was also seen as "women's work" and thus Chinese men were viewed as less threatening to white American masculinity if they took up this line of work. However, the association of Chinese men and laundry contributed to the emasculation of East Asian men so even though the vast majority of Chinese-Americans today do not work in laundries -- a stereotype of East Asian being more "feminine" than other races remains.

* A leftover of the era where Chinese-manned Laundries were common is the Venezuelan saying "Más caliente que plancha de chino", "Hotter than a Chinese man's iron". The "caliente" in the saying refers to angry hot-headness instead of physical hotness, through.

* Subverted in the 1943 ''Film/TheBatman'' serial. Due to it being set in World War II, the main villain was a Japanese spy. Thus, one of the clues found is a handkerchief with a ''Japanese'' laundry mark. Robin quips that he's never heard of a Japanese laundry mark.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]" features a Chinese Laundry, justified by being set in VictorianLondon.

* A StealthPun in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': Lau, member of the Chinese mob, works for Gotham criminals as a money launderer.

->"''No tickee, no shirtee!''"
-->-- Stereotypical phrase, first recorded use in 1886

Subsequent technological and social developments have pretty much killed off the Chinese launderer as a current stereotype. If they appear in any form nowadays they're likely to either be laundromat owners or dry cleaners.

* According to his backstory from Disney's ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', [[MadBomber Vinny]] actually became obsessed with explosives after witnessing the Chinese laundromat next door to his family's flower shop catch fire and explode due to an faulty gas leak.

* In the Colleen [=McCullough=] novel ''The Touch'', upon emigrating to Australia from Scotland and being given a tour of her wealthy new husband's home, Elizabeth Kinross is embarrassed at the idea that men will be trending to her laundry--there was a substantial Chinese immigrant population in Australia at the time of the book's setting--but agrees after she's assured that the practice is very common.

** One short story features a Chinese man moving to Shanghai Gulch - a town where only Chinese people live - only to find out that he can't work as a launderer as he'd like to, since the town already consists of nothing but 182 launderers and 182 restaurant workers. The town is on the brink of economic collapse since the money just goes back and forth between the two groups, until the main character comes up with a solution.

* Referenced by Film/JackNicholson in his most racist scene in ''Film/TheDeparted''.

--> MRS. LEE: My husband -- some hotshot! Here's his Ancient Chinese Secret...

--> MRS. LEE: ''(shouting)'' "We need more Calgon!"
--> CUSTOMER: "Ancient Chinese secret, huh?"

* In a series of 1970s commercials for Calgon laundry detergent, a Caucasian customer would ask laundry owner Mr. Lee how he got shirts so ''white,'' to which he would respond "Ancient Chinese secret." Then his wife would address the camera in a ''beautifully'' American accent:

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjNRXfRXnoc A famous Calgon water softener commercial]] from the 1970s references this, at least insofar as the laundry owners are of Chinese descent.

[[folder: Commercials ]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjNRXfRXnoc A famous Calgon water softener commercial]] from the 1970s references this, at least insofar as the laundry owners are of Chinese descent.
** Deliciously spoofed on an episode of ''Series/MadTV'', with Creator/JackieChan as the laundry owner. When the customer learns the "ancient Chinese secret", Jackie leaps over the counter, beats the stuffing out of him, and says "You tell anyone, you're a dead man!"
* One of the infamous Asian stereotype t-shirts made by Ambecrombie and Fitch has two stereotypical Chinese cartoons with the slogan "Two Wongs will Make it White"
** A reference to a racist political slogan of the yesteryear, which was used in barring Asian immigration to the US and Canada: "Two Wongs don't make White".
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW3TQpz64rA This commercial for Jawbone headsets]] involves a character citing the stereotype of a Chinese Laundry at length [[spoiler:and getting curb stomped in revenge]].
* A Brazilian ad for washing powder had a ''Japanese'' launderer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVoTsHHQcw advertising his own place]] (the phone he lifts is that of the manufacturer).
[[/folder]]

By the 1930s, [[BigApplesauce New York City]] had around 3550 Chinese-run laundries, proudly displaying "Hand Laundry" signs to show their commitment to [[GoodOldWays traditional methods]]. Unfortunately, in an effort to drive the [[YellowPeril "dangerous foreigners"]] out of the city, laws were passed in 1933 to among other things restrict ownership of laundries to American citizens. (The laws of the time prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens, though many laundries remained in Chinese American hands as another precedent, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Wong_Kim_Ark United States v. Wong Kim Ark]], established that people of Chinese descent born in the US are natural-born citizens of the US.) After negotiations by the traditional Chinese social organizations failed, the openly leftist Chinese Hand Laundry Association was formed to fight this discrimination. They did a very good job of it, and of supporting [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar the Guomindang's defense]] [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors of China]] against UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan with invaluable medical personnel and aid to reduce the appallingly high number of troop-deaths from wounds and disease. Unfortunately, despite ongoing support for the Guomindang, once [[RedChina the Communists]] [[UsefulNotes/ChineseWithChopperSupport destroyed the Guomindang]] in the Chinese Civil War in 1950 the RedScare somewhat inexplicably saw the CHLA denounced as a "Communist" organisation and its membership sharply declined.

By the 1930s, [[BigApplesauce New York City]] had around 3550 Chinese-run laundries, proudly displaying "Hand Laundry" signs to show their commitment to [[GoodOldWays traditional methods]]. Unfortunately, in an effort to drive the [[YellowPeril "dangerous foreigners"]] out of the city, laws were passed in 1933 to among other things restrict ownership of laundries to American citizens. (The laws of the time prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens.) After negotiations by the traditional Chinese social organizations failed, the openly leftist Chinese Hand Laundry Association was formed to fight this discrimination. They did a very good job of it, and of supporting [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar the Guomindang's defense]] [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors of China]] against UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan with invaluable medical personnel and aid to reduce the appallingly high number of troop-deaths from wounds and disease. Unfortunately, despite ongoing support for the Guomindang, once [[RedChina the Communists]] [[UsefulNotes/ChineseWithChopperSupport destroyed the Guomindang]] in the Chinese Civil War in 1950 the RedScare somewhat inexplicably saw the CHLA denounced as a "Communist" organisation and its membership sharply declined.

* In a series of 1970s commercials for Calgon, a Caucasian customer would ask laundry owner Mr. Lee how he got shirts so ''white,'' to which he would respond "Ancient Chinese secret." At the end of the ad, Mr. Lee's wife would invariably blow his cover:

* ''The Dagger of Amon Ra'' features a Chinese laundryman named [[PunnyName Lo Fat]] in the game's first act, from whom you get a few clues and a dress. [=thewatersupply=] hasn't played the game since middle school; it might have been hilariously offensive.

* The ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' mod [[TheWildWest 1866]] includes Frankie Luong, a Chinese former laundryman, as a possible party member. In keeping with the common stereotypical portrayal of Chinese laundrymen in Western films, he can't end a sentence without an exclamation point.

This trope also exists in the UnitedKingdom, and is often associated with the London district of Limehouse, which was home to many Chinese immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (there is little sign of this today, with London's Chinatown having moved elsewhere).

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS146TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]" features a Chinese Laundry, justified by being set in VictorianLondon.

By the 1930s, [[BigApplesauce New York City]] had around 3550 Chinese-run laundries, proudly displaying "Hand Laundry" signs to show their commitment to [[GoodOldWays traditional methods]]. Unfortunately, in an effort to drive the [[YellowPeril "dangerous foreigners"]] out of the city, laws were passed in 1933 to among other things restrict ownership of laundries to American citizens. (The laws of the time prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens.) After negotiations by the traditional Chinese social organizations failed, the openly leftist Chinese Hand Laundry Association was formed to fight this discrimination. They did a very good job of it, and of supporting [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar the Guomindang's defense]] [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors of China]] against UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan with invaluable medical personnel and aid to reduce the apallingly high number of troop-deaths from wounds and disease. Unfortunately, despite ongoing support for the Guomindang, once [[RedChina the Communists]] [[ChineseWithChopperSupport destroyed the Guomindang]] in the Chinese Civil War in 1950 the RedScare somewhat inexplicably saw the CHLA denounced as a "Communist" organisation and its membership sharply declined.