The Empire was largely a thing of the past by then, but the recent past. I wonder whether some people were more familiar with things from former parts of the E

The Empire was largely a thing of the past by then, but the recent past. I wonder whether some people were more familiar with things from former parts of the Empire than they were with European things? There are lots of references to things like Indian food in fiction going back to the 19th century, at least. I agree the effectiveness of the hoax might well be exaggerated. On the other hand there are always some credulous people.