Sickle, circa 1840

Sickles helped farmers harvest grasses and grains. Using this age-old tool, however, was backbreaking work. Laborers constantly had to stoop over to cut and gather the crops. The invention of mid-nineteenth-century mechanized equipment -- reapers and mowers -- made this handheld harvesting tool nearly obsolete. Still, the sickle remained useful on smaller farms or for work around the yard or garden.