10 Everyday Objects With Shockingly Dark Histories
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at ten items you use every day without realizing their shady origins.
Chocolate
Few treats feel as innocent - or indulgent - as a chocolate bar. But behind that crisp snap is a history that’s anything but sweet. Chocolate’s rise in Europe was fueled by colonial exploitation. Enslaved labor produced cocoa, primarily for royals and other nobles. While the wrappers have gotten shinier in the modern world, the problem hasn’t gone away. Today, much of the world’s cocoa still comes from West Africa, where an estimated 1.5 million children work in hazardous conditions. Many are sadly trafficked or forced into labor. Major companies have pledged reform for decades, but little has been done. Chocolate is marketed as comfort, celebration, and love. But its supply chain continues to expose one of the most bitter contradictions of modern consumer culture.
High Heels
High heels may be a modern fashion statement, but their origins trace back to the battlefield. Heels helped Persian cavalrymen secure their feet in stirrups, improving balance during combat. European aristocrats encountered the style in the 17th century, and heels quickly became symbols of masculinity and status, worn proudly by men like King Louis XIV. Over time, though, men abandoned them, and heels were gradually rebranded for women. What followed was a shift from utility to aesthetics. Designs increasingly altered posture, limited mobility, and emphasized sexuality. Today, heels are marketed as symbols of elegance and empowerment, even as they’re linked to chronic pain and injury. An object once tied to war and authority ultimately became a quiet tool of social expectation and gendered control.
Pillows
Pillows are synonymous with comfort, but their origins are far less cozy. Many ancient civilizations didn’t use soft pillows at all; instead they slept on hard supports made of stone, wood, or porcelain. These early 'pillows' were used to protect posture or elaborate hairstyles. Softer pillows eventually emerged, often tightly stuffed and elevated. Their purpose was to keep sleepers away from insects, but pillows also became notorious for trapping filth, parasites, and disease, especially in crowded cities and poorly ventilated spaces. In places like 19th-century opium dens, communal pillows were reused endlessly, spreading illness and infestation. What we now associate with rest and relaxation was once a calculated defense against pests, but, at times, it was also a vector for discomfort and disease.
Bicycles
Bikes are a symbol of freedom and independence, but they began in an era of fear and social backlash. They first surged in popularity during the late 19th century. Critics warned they were physically dangerous and morally repugnant - especially for women. Doctors claimed cycling could cause everything from spinal damage to infertility. Newspapers fretted about “bicycle face,” a supposed condition caused by improper exertion. Even clothing became controversial, as women adopted bloomers to the chagrin of social conservatives. Some cities even considered placing restrictions on female riders. Manufacturers redesigned bicycles to reinforce “proper” posture and behavior. What we now see as a simple means of transport was first treated as a threat to the gendered social order.
Denim
Denim feels timeless and universal. For well over a century, it has been a staple of Western fashion. But denim’s history is inseparable from racial exploitation. The fabric traces back to cotton production, an industry built on slavery. Long after this was abolished, denim remained tied to racist systems like sharecropping and convict leasing. In these systems, Black Americans were still abused for profit. In the late 19th century, denim workwear became standard issue for prisoners and laborers forced into brutal conditions. Over time, denim moved from factories and fields into mainstream fashion, stripped of its context. What we now wear as casual, everyday clothing emerged from brutality. Workers were treated as expendable, stitching inequality into one of the world’s most iconic fabrics.
Sunglasses
Sunglasses are synonymous with style, but their history is more complicated than cool looks. In ancient Rome, emperors like Nero reportedly watched gladiator fights through polished gems to reduce glare. In the Arctic, Inuit snow goggles were carved with narrow slits to prevent snow blindness. Centuries later, tinted lenses took on a darker social role. In 18th-century China, judges wore smoked quartz glasses to conceal their eyes during interrogations. The intent was to mask their emotions from suspected criminals. In the 20th century, sunglasses became tools of concealment again. They were popularized by Hollywood stars to hide illness, bloodshot eyes, or exhaustion from studio pressure. What we now associate with glamour and confidence has long been used to obscure vulnerability, authority, and truth.
Child-Proof Caps
Child-proof caps exist because of tragedy. In the mid-20th century, accidental poisonings were a leading cause of death among young children. Access to medications and household chemicals was all too easy. Early medicine bottles used simple screw tops, offering little protection. The push for child-resistant packaging gained momentum in the 1950s and ’60s, later reinforced by the 1970 Poison Prevention Packaging Act. Public fear escalated in 1982: Cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules killed seven people in the Chicago area after a still-unknown killer placed them on store shelves. The case shocked the public, exposing how easily medications could be tampered with. In response, child-resistant caps and tamper-evident seals became standard safeguards. These designs were never truly “child-proof,” instead introducing new challenges for elderly and disabled users.
Super Glue
Super Glue is marketed as a household and hobbyist miracle, but it was born in war. The adhesive traces back to World War II. Chemist Harry Coover was searching for clear plastics for gun sights and scopes. What he created instead, cyanoacrylate, was dismissed at first for being too sticky. Its potential was fully realized a generation later during the Vietnam War. There, the adhesive found a grim new use on the battlefield. It was a great emergency sealant on battlefield wounds when traditional treatment wasn’t available. Super Glue was never a replacement for proper medical care, but its emergency use saved lives under extreme conditions.
Kleenex Tissues
Before they wiped away tears and runny noses, facial tissues were tied to chemical warfare. Disposable tissues were developed during World War I. Based on crepe paper, they were designed for use in gas masks. Tissues were originally created to help filter toxic chemical agents. After the war, manufacturers repurposed that technology for civilian use. They first marketed it in the 1920s as a disposable makeup remover. Soon afterward, consumers began writing to the company about using the tissues to blow their noses. The practice became so widespread that Kleenex pivoted. They reframed disposable tissues as hygienic necessities. Gone were the days of the pocket hankie: replaced by tissue paper originally created to stop mustard gas.
Treadmills
Treadmills have been an exercise staple for decades. Users who hate running may jokingly call them torturous, but the device was indeed invented as a form of torture. In the early 19th century, penal treadmills were installed in British prisons as hard labor. Prisoners were forced to step endlessly on rotating wheels for hours at a time. These early treadmills sometimes powered mills or pumps, but often accomplished nothing at all. The machines were designed to exhaust bodies, break spirits, and discourage crime through physical suffering. Inmates frequently collapsed from injury, malnutrition, or exhaustion. By the late 1800s, the practice was condemned as cruel and abandoned. But the device itself survived. Rebranded and sanitized, the treadmill reemerged in the 20th century as exercise equipment.
Is this video going to make it hard to look at these objects the same way anymore? Let us know in the comments below!
