Derived from West African hamboning and popularized in the U.S. through 20th-century jug bands, the washboard has been used as a makeshift percussion instrument for more than 100 years. By adding ...

The Columbus Washboard Co. sold more than a million boards a year in its 1940s heyday. That was when wood-and-corrugated-steel boards were used for scrubbing clothing and linens by hand in a washtub ...