As early as 1711, laundry buildings were constructed separate from living areas in some of the homes of the wealthy in colonial America. When soiled items were sent out to these laundries for cleaning, there had to be some method to account for them. One such method used an inventory pillow, the inspiration for this adapted kit. The lady of the house would include with the soiled items such a pillow with pins inserted through the corresponding numbers for each item sent out. When the cleaned items were returned, they could be checked against the pinned numbers.