When I was a child (1980s) some of the coin-op laundries here in New York had something like that. It looked like a HUGE pressure cooker on a pedestal. You'd put a quarter in it and it'd take your clothes for a spin...so it would shorten drying time.
Haven't run across them in years. I used to love hearing those things start up and watch them rattle as they did their thing. They looked scary!!
