For many of us, history is something that we took in school and we probably forgot more about what we learned in the class than what we remembered. It may not be the favorite subject for all of us, but there are some interesting things that can be learned from it.

That includes what we have in this interesting picture. It is something out of history that was used by millions of people but is not necessarily something that is recognized today. In fact, we would venture to say that most people would not know what it is.

In case you haven’t figured it out by this point, it has to do with laundry. Doing laundry is something that has been done for thousands of years, although the methods of doing so have changed as the millennia continue to roll body.

Many years ago, people would take their dirty clothes down to the river and beat them against a rock. These days, you put them in a machine, and in an hour, they are finished.

The interesting little device we have in these pictures made it easier for people to do their laundry. Considering all of the different steps that are necessary through the process, including hauling the water, boiling it, washing, rinsing, wringing the clothes out, and drying, it was quite a process.