Before Modern Car Washes Were Invented

Before modern car washes were invented, one particularly wacky idea was for cars to drive around through water in a circle. Like the best archival images, it needs almost no explanation — the frame tells its own story.

Photography has only existed since 1839, which means the camera-recorded past is a narrow window — and every surviving frame from it is a small act of preservation, whether the photographer knew it or not.

Most photography of the period chased celebrities and headlines, which makes surviving images of daily routine all the more precious. This is what the world actually looked like when nobody thought it was worth remembering.