| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Kathie |
Posted - Sep 29 2007 : 8:34:17 PM
Who Had a Hope Chest??
Do you remember these?
Did anyone have one?
What was inside?
& Who helped with it?
Who contributed to it?
Did You?
Were there hand made things? By who.. you or other people..
Details Girls!!
AND!! Was is called a Hope Chest by everyone.. or was it called something else in a different region.. ?
If it was,
Then what I'm referring to is usually a nice sized Cedar Trunk
& chest.. that usually had been handed down .. OR maybe was bought JUSt for you.. & whe you were younger.. people like your Mom.. Grandmother & Aunts usually started putting things in it for you.. like Pillow cases.. Usually with needle point I noticed in mine.. Towels.. Sheets even.. & other Linens.. All sorts of things really.. usually things for you to start setting up house with for when you left home..
Share you Hope Chest's with us Girls..!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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| sgrbear724 |
Posted - Oct 04 2007 : 6:46:04 PM
Didn't read the previous posts until now-glad to know that other ladies out there have thought about their boys as well. Here I thought I was being all inventive! ;-)
http:www.zeahrenaissance.blogspot.com |
| sgrbear724 |
Posted - Oct 04 2007 : 6:44:50 PM
I never had one but I plan on having one for the girls. So far, I have only one girl, so that will be easy!
For the boys-we will be having a toolchest.
Both items will be made from wood-and both will be made by my hubby-and both will be given on their 16th birthdays.
When I was first married, my mother in law bought a chest and filled it with a few things from my husbands' childhood-including a quilt that his grandmother had made him as a boy. I loved it so much I will be carrying on that tradition for my daughters' in law as well! :-)
http:www.zeahrenaissance.blogspot.com |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Oct 04 2007 : 12:16:20 PM
I have one of those miniature hope chests that came from my senior year in High School. I still use it! I see them sometimes in antiques stores, and think, oh my, I am an antique now.
Years ago, when everyone would talk about theirs, I always used to kid and say I had a lot of hope, but no chest.
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| Kati |
Posted - Oct 04 2007 : 11:33:12 AM
My parents gave me a Lane cedar chest when I graduated from HS. But as I was already 5 months prego. with my dd, we didn't have time to fill it with hand-made goods. Most of what went in was corelle ware china & pots & pans & silverware, some store-bought dishcloths. I did have an afghan my grandmother had made me as a girl, but that was pretty well all. Now it sits in my bedroom and holds some keepsakes (a couple of special outfits from my daughter, the "champagne" flutes & cake knife & server from my wedding, a couple of seldom-used afghans, a baby-doll outfit that I'd made for one of my daughtter's dolls, and a whole bunch of books that I don't want to get rid of and yet don't have room for on my (many, many) bookshelves.
My Dad recently gave my daughter my Mom's Lane cedar hope-chest, and for now anyway it's used as a coffee-table in our living-room and holds more throws & some throw pillows. Eventually, when my daughter has outgrown most of her toys, we'll move it into her room & start putting her afghans & special things in there. Though my daughter is very much opposed to the thought of a hope-chest to contain goods for furnishing her own home someday..... She seems to think she's going to live with her dad & I forever. *wink* |
| KellyA |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 1:51:06 PM
I also got a Lane cedar hope chest when I was 16. My mom took great pains to make sure it was filled with wonderful stuff before I got married...dishes, some linens, kitchen gadgets...I don't remember what else, but I still have and use my chest in my room. It has my wedding ring pillow that my mom made for me, some old crocheted doilies that I treasure, some infant memorabilia of my son's, and some of my memorabilia from the army. I didn't have a girl, but if I had, she would also have had a hope chest for all her treasured memories.
Kelly
When a cookbook is in hand, life is good! |
| Kathie |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 12:47:36 PM
I love it Denise!!..
& Julie.. the Despair Barrell!! That's Awesome!
I think it's wonderful how we all hold the same values in them.. & keep them so close to our hearts.. & they can have so many different names.. & come in so many shapes , sizes & even different Mediums even!
But they all mean the same to us.. Hope.. & Growth & Future..
or.. Later.. Memories!!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
| levisgrammy |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 12:37:15 PM
Kathy,
Yes, that "hope garage" has become a reality at our house. She is 23 and still stashing things away. The other night we went to a Pampered Chef party. She had started doing them and of course they have you purchase a starter kit of stuff you will use at shows. She didn't do many shows but now she has that stuff and she has been adding to it. She gets up Saturday morning and brings down this notebook that is full of all the stuff she has collected. We are talking dishes, books, knick knacks she has acquired and wants to keep. Family things that I have given her and it is all catalogued in a notebook. It is no wonder she has to keep some of the stuff in the garage.
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and all that dwell therein."
www.torismimi.blogspot.com |
| MullersLaneFarm |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 12:09:43 PM
I never had a hope chest growing up, but when I started having babies, I got a 'memory chest' that I've stored all the memorable things from my children ...
I made sure all my children had 'hope chests'. They were all made by my husband. I've given them blankets, sheets, towels, dishes, tools, et al. My oldest son thought it was corny, until he moved out!
Cyndi
Muller's Lane Farm http://www.mullerslanefarm.com
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| SarahJ |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 07:00:42 AM
I never had one, but I always wanted one. So, after our house burned down, and we were buying new bedroom furniture with our insurance money, I picked a furniture set that had a matching hope chest. I keep my boys baptism clothes, my parents weddng photos, and other special things. If I ever have a girl (since DH seems to only be capable of producing male children) I will get her one and try to keep this tradition alive. However, the girls who talked about doing one for the boys may have a good idea....
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| asnedecor |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 06:49:58 AM
My sister and I both had Hope Chests. Ours were old travel trunks - hers was a rounded top one and mine was flat. Both had wood and pressed tin on the outside. They were old and we had to clean them up and refinish the wood. Then my dad lined them with cedar. Oma (grandma from Germany) would send us stuff - we got a full set of china, a coffee service, wine glasses and flatware. My mom gave us other things at Christmas and birthdays - cookware, etc. By the time I went to college and set up my first apartment I had quite a few things to use. Both my sister and I still have our chests - mine now holds my wedding dress, wedding shoes, some letters, etc.
Anne in Portland
"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
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| paradiseplantation |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 05:55:29 AM
I had one, of sorts, but my mother always called it my 'Despair Barrel'. I think it was actually her despairing of ever marrying me off (makes me wonder if she might have thought I was her problem child!) I had dishtowels, some vintage linens and a few odds and ends in it. Before it got too full, I had my own apartment and began using everything in it! I still have all the vintage items, and a few of the kitchen odds and ends.
from the hearts of paradise... |
| Sweet Harvest Homestead |
Posted - Oct 01 2007 : 11:40:20 AM
I have one. My parents gave it to me on the day that I graduated High School.
It has a shaker type decoration on the front and a nice, padded top to sit on.
I remember seeing the ads for the Lane Chests in my seventeen magazine.
My mother helped me fill it with sheets and towels for my first home. 4 years after I got it, all of those pretty things got put to use because I got married.
It was filled with blankets and my wedding gown after we were married and after the babies came, I filled it with those sweet little booties and newborn baby outfits that I wanted to have as keepsakes.
I will give it to my little girl someday. I love the way that things smell when I take them out of it and I love to sit with my boys and pull things out and tell them about the memories that the box made of cedar holds.
Lindy
www.sweetharvesthomestead.typepad.com |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Oct 01 2007 : 07:06:42 AM
That must have been a huge marketing thing with Lane--my mom (graduated in 1966) got one of the little ones when she graduated.
We have my grandmother's chest, also a Lane, but it's a 1940's model, and is VERY sleek looking, almost like a car fender.
I like what happens to the hope chests after marriage--they sortof become guardians of the past, and not the future anymore. My grandmother's was full of photos and yearbooks from my mother and her sister, memorial cards and pressed flowers, books of poetry, letters folded neatly and tied with ribbon,little knick knacks. Grandma must have learned from her mother--what a TREASURE trove my Great Gran's trunk was! Full of old (old) things, including her veil from 1918, and military caps from her two brothers who died in WWI, and her marriage certificate that was decorated with cherubs, and ribbons, and flowers. So Edwardian, so pretty. I could keep myself busy there for hours, imagining who these folks were, and why grandma kept snippets of letters (from a forgotten love, perhaps???!!!), or who was the very sad woman wearing black in a long, forgotten photo.
I guess I sortof keep a hope chest--it's an old steamer trunk that my father redid for me, and inside is both old and new. Baby hats that I find that I can't pass up (maybe one day?), lace, letters, stones from harbors in far away places.
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
| Bonne |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 6:36:20 PM
MaryBeth, the Senior girls in my high school got one of those mini Lane cedar chests too!
I found a wooden trunk with copper banding at a rummage sale when I was in college for $20. I refinished it, and put in a set of dishes from Ireland (same rummage sale~LOL) , and other asst. household things I'd need after I graduated college and moved out. It's a lovely tradition, I think!
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| Kathie |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 6:22:13 PM
This IS a Great Topic.. Isn't It!!
Thought of it while talking with Nancy Jo & Marybeth the other night!! They reminded me of some old memories!!
Rhonda your So right.. Why not start one for the boys too.. I mean the Tools are a great idea.. But even a REAL Hope Chest with some linens & things.. Will definatly help them once they go off on their own! & it's not like when we (ok.. When I ) was younger.. where we usually got married so soon right after graduation.. so there won't be a wedding shower soon for them if they DON'T get married.. but having had a hope chest.. will help out in the beggining stages..
I love the idea of Revisiting this.. & bringing back some traditions.. I had one for my Daughter That a friend of her Gradfather had made for her.. very pretty..
But You know..
We can also start one for our Neices & Grand Daughters too.. & It really doesn't have to be a big expensive Cedar Chest right now.. Really just starting on the gathering part of it.. & then later.. start looking for a chest.. once they get older.. & your stash get's bigger!!
I think Almost ALL of us mentioned the Embroidered Pillow Cases ! So.. this is definatly a great starting point!
& Gosh.. Amanda!!.. the Recipe books & Photo Albums.. What a great Idea!! I know there are some photos that I have that I just HAD to have copied for each of my kids.. Some that i want to make sure they all have passed down to them..
& about 5 years ago I started a Recipe Book for each of them too.. & every year they get a few more new recipes.. they have even started giving ME recipes now too.. ( My Kids are all in their mid to late 20's now for those of you that didn't know that..)
But alot of the Recipes are some that we have just ALWAYS had every year for certain holidays..& Traditions.. or even just a funny one, like how to make Rice Krispy Treats.. or S'mores! They LOVE these Books..
i made one for Alee last year.. I just use a Photo Album that has slots on either page.. usually about three on each side.. & then i write the recipe on Index cards.. & they slide right in on the sides.. this way your cards don't get icky.. & you can hold SO many recipes in this book!
I know some one had even said they buy Baby things..
I DO THIS TOO!!
ONE of these days my kids WILL Make me a Grannie!!
& I will be SOOOOO prepared!
Denise.. I am afraid I am like you.. did you say that your Husband was afraid that your Daughter was going to out grow hers & just wind up with a "Hope Garage"??
yep.. this is me!!
My Grandmother started filling her's again when she was about 55 years old.. She said when she retired.. she wanted to be able to have all new things again!!
I think one of the best parts of having a Hope Chest for me was constantly opening it up & re-exploring it again! Remembering what i had.. Dreaming of the day when i'd be able to use these things.. Wondering who i'd share them with!! & trying to think of what else i wanted to store in it !! Then of course repacking it ALLLL over again if i had a new addition!
Yes..! We need to Bring back our "Glory Boxes" Girls!!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
| nut4fabric |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 4:26:08 PM
For those of you that are looking to buy a real quality cedar chest www.harmonycedar.com has beautiful ones. We were shopping for one for our daughter and everything we saw even the Lane ones were real junk so we ordered from these people and were so impressed with the quality. I know Lane used to be really nice but sure not the new ones. |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 1:25:57 PM
My grandma made sure I kept busy in the summer embroidering table linens for my hope chest. But I didn't get the actual chest until after I was married a while!
A local furniture store gave us miniature LANE "hope" or cedar chests when we were seniors - I can't remember what happened to mine - but they sure influenced me, because the one I eventually got was pretty close to the same as the one they gave us. Good marketing, but I didn't buy it from them! Guess it backfired on them!
I have no idea what happened to the linens, either. I don't think I ever finished the afghan I started on a little 8x8 weaving loom.
Great topic, brought back lots of memories.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
| CountryBorn |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 10:33:35 AM
I had the hope chest stuff, but not really a hope chest. It was several of those heavy cardboard boxes with a box type lid. I think they were the 60's version of totes! I kept them in my Grandma's attic. My Mom got me my first set of dishes with her green stamps. I had things from my Grandma and I worked from 15 on so I bought a lot of things for it, pots and pans glasses silverware towels kitchen stuff you name it. When Tom and I got married we had basically everyhting we needed.I used to go up and go through the things often.
Mary Jane
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
| lambgirl |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 09:46:54 AM
I received one for graduation and I still add things to it. My aunties are always cleaning out their cupboards and my mom sends things along to me. My daughter is getting one for Christmas this year as she will be off to college next fall. My DH is going to make her one, so it will be extra special to her. I have been trying to work on a log cabin quilt for her in secret. Lucky for me she is not night owl.
Heidi |
| kitchensqueen |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 08:50:44 AM
I never had one, but always wished I did. When I went off to college, I assembled the necessary things to take with me, but it wasn't the same. I think the hope chest should definitely be revived; it's a great way to pass on family traditions and heirlooms. Someday when we have children, we'll definitely be doing proper hope chests for each of them, even the boys. At a minimum, each child will recieve a hand-crafted cedar chest, a quilt handmade my me, basic linens, a hand-written family recipe book and an heirloom photograph album.
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| Marybeth |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 08:31:41 AM
I went to a very small High School and all the graduating seniors (girls) got small Hope Chests, which i still have and it still has that cedar aroma. The Hope chests were made by Lane and I suppose it was to entice us to buy and fill larger ones. I got married as soon as I graduated so i didn't really get to fill one. It is a wonderful tradition, though. MB
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"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
| nut4fabric |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 08:10:19 AM
I have one too, it was a hand me down from my sister-in-law, it was given to her by her grandmother. Don't know why she didn't want to keep it, it is really pretty solid cedar with copper banding. I filled it with DOW towels, silverware, and odds and ends that I liked. We bought our daughter one when she got engaged and filled it to the brim for her, She was living in England at the time and bought things there to add to it. Now I use mine as a "Grandmothers" hope chest, I am filling it with things for grandbabies, an excuse to make cute baby things. |
| levisgrammy |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 06:48:20 AM
Oh I wanted to mention that both my daughters received a hope chest when they turned 16. One is cherry wood and cedar lined and the other one is completely made of cedar.
They both kept several things they made in there. Doilies and linens etc. My husband teases the one still at home that she has a hope garage because she has made and purchased so many things that she has had to store them in boxes in the garage. She already has her dishes and cookware and to many things to mention. At least when she marries she won't have to spend money on all of that and she will be able to just go ahead and set up her house. That way money that is saved can be used to purchase furniture or something and there will be less or no debt for them.
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and all that dwell therein."
www.torismimi.blogspot.com |
| levisgrammy |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 06:42:37 AM
I have my grandmother's cedar chest which became my hope chest. It matched her bedroom set which I later obtained from my parents. I had while living at home and filled it with linens and different household items. I remember I had an iron I bought and put in it. When I married we moved 6,000 miles away and I was not able to take it. My parents kept it until we moved back to the states. We lived in Hawaii and they always called the rest of the country the states. Anyway, after we had been married for 10 yrs. My parents came to visit and brought it with them. Now I keep my wedding dress, special baby clothes, and my memories and mementos in there.
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and all that dwell therein."
www.torismimi.blogspot.com |
| willowtreecreek |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 06:36:19 AM
I did not have one growing up but always wish I had. Maybe I will get myself one - even if it is one of those $20 trunks from walmart. My mom has a hope chest and I remember about once a year mom would let us look through it and would show us all kinds of pictures and special momentos. I remember that she had always wanted to write a book and she had notebooks full of short stories she had written. I really need to ask her about these. After I graduated from High School my mom and dad sold the house we grew up in and moved a few times while they were on their search for a bed and breakfast (http://www.orchardhousebb.com). I really hope she didn't get rid of all that cool stuff!
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