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Across the Fence:  Who Had a Hope Chest??  |
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 29 2007 : 8:34:17 PM
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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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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2007 : 8:54:26 PM
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My Great-Great Aunt Nora willed me her hope chest when she died. In it she included a beautiful modified crazy quilt, several embroidered items like a table cloth and hankies and such, some doilies, and other little pretties.
It is a beautiful decorative cedar trunk that is about five foot by two and a half feet. It has decorative copper banding on the outside and hinges that keep the lid up when you open it. The cedar is coppery/carmely colored in some spots, reddish in some spots, and almost white in others. It is very beautiful!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2007 : 9:32:02 PM
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I did have a hope chest..and I called it that..BUT..it was really different. It was a big red white and blue (remember this was the '70's) metal trunk..really silly looking. But I did collect embroidered tea towels and doilies that I made, potholders my aunt made, an afghan my grandma made, and bought dishes and things I would need for October 2nd 1976 (the day after I turned 18..when I would be moving out) I was horrible and reminded my parents constantly that Oct.2nd was coming and all...and sure enough I did need it all for my first apartment...I got married BEFORE Oct. 2nd I worked in a grocery store as a checker my senior year in high school and bought alot from the kitchen wares aisle too..silly.
I always wanted one of the really nice cedar ones and now that I have girls I intend for them to have them. My oldest boys got foot locker trunks (really nice wood ones) for 8th grade graduation from my mom and dad. They still have them.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2007 : 9:54:17 PM
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I think that all women should have cedar chests (Hope Chests). It is a tradition that I would really love to see re-ignited. As soon as I am done with the pillowcases for the pillowcase swap, I am going to do a couple of sets for Doug and I, and then I am going to start in on some for Nora. I want her to have beautiful hand made items for when she is older. I know many will get used up, but I hope she treasures some of them. Hopefully once she is older she will work on her own additions as well.
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
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abbasgurl
True Blue Farmgirl
1262 Posts
Rhonda
USA
1262 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2007 : 9:59:15 PM
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The only thing I ever wanted to be when I grew up was a "homemaker"...and so I started a hope chest when I was 14. My Gram gave me a lovely Lane chest, cedar lined, that I still have. The year I was 16 my parents bought me a set of ironstone dishes. I still have those too! I remember collecting mostly linens and towels. I also remember dreamily taking everything out, looking it over & putting it back many times. Hadn't thought of that in years. Neat question Kathie, thanks for bring it up!
Since we have sons, we bought each a nice size tool chest for Christmas (when they turned 10) & add tools to them each year. Serves two purposes...they will be starting out with a few things of their own, PLUS it keeps them out of Dad's tools. 
I'm a one girl revolution. |
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Shirlaroo
True Blue Farmgirl
297 Posts
Shirley
Australia
297 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 03:35:47 AM
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In Australia we call it a glory box. I never had one, but thank for reminding me to start one for my daughter. Also like the idea of a tool box for the boys, will do this for my son.
Friends are the best collectables. |
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AuntJo
True Blue Farmgirl
117 Posts
Jo
Oklahoma
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 06:34:56 AM
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I had one that my granny started it for me when I was 10. Grandad had a big old wooden tool box that he wasn't going to use anymore and so he donated it for my hope chest. I still have it and it serves as a coffee table in my living room.
The first thing Granny put in it was a pair of embroidered pillowcases. As she would clean out dresser drawers and closets she'd find things she'd had forever and if I wanted it, it went in the chest. Day of the week dish towels, pillowcases, embroidered sheets, table cloths, doilies, quilts, a few dishes, and her cookbook.
My contributions were my very first quilt, a couple of pillowcases, my very first crocheted doily.
As I got older, my aunts added things like shoe lasts, knife rests, things that most people don't even know what they are anymore.
My mother has started one for my daughter and the first thing she put in, a pair of embroidered pillowcases.
Aunt Jo to 24 nieces and nephews and counting
http://auntjoscorner.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - AuntJo on Sep 30 2007 06:35:41 AM |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 06:36:19 AM
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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!
Felt and Fabric Crafts
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com
BLOG
www.willowtreecreek.wordpress.com |
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levisgrammy
True Blue Farmgirl
9363 Posts
Denise
Beavercreek
Ohio
USA
9363 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 06:42:37 AM
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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 |
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levisgrammy
True Blue Farmgirl
9363 Posts
Denise
Beavercreek
Ohio
USA
9363 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 06:48:20 AM
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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 |
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nut4fabric
True Blue Farmgirl
885 Posts
Kathy
Morgan Hill
CA
USA
885 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 08:10:19 AM
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| 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. |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 08:31:41 AM
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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
www.strawberryhillsfarm.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com www.holyhouses-day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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kitchensqueen
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
521 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 08:50:44 AM
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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.
http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
http://shadetreestudios.etsy.com
New Rt 66 blog: http://historyinthemaking.wordpress.com |
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lambgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
93 Posts
Heidi
Ellensburg
wa
USA
93 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 09:46:54 AM
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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 |
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CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 10:33:35 AM
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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 |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 1:25:57 PM
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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 |
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nut4fabric
True Blue Farmgirl
885 Posts
Kathy
Morgan Hill
CA
USA
885 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 4:26:08 PM
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| 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. |
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 6:22:13 PM
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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.. |
Edited by - Kathie on Sep 30 2007 6:28:39 PM |
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Bonne
True Blue Farmgirl
3003 Posts
Bonne
Littleton
CO
USA
3003 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2007 : 6:36:20 PM
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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!
 http://bonne1313.blogspot.com/ Blog
http://www.bonne1313.homestead.com/soap.html Soap
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2007 : 07:06:42 AM
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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. |
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Sweet Harvest Homestead
True Blue Farmgirl
279 Posts
Lindy
Stanfield
NC
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2007 : 11:40:20 AM
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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 |
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paradiseplantation
True Blue Farmgirl
1277 Posts
julie
social springs community
Louisiana
USA
1277 Posts |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 05:55:29 AM
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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... |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 06:49:58 AM
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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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SarahJ
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Shreveport
Louisiana
198 Posts |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 07:00:42 AM
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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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MullersLaneFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
596 Posts
Rock Falls
IL
596 Posts |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 12:09:43 PM
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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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levisgrammy
True Blue Farmgirl
9363 Posts
Denise
Beavercreek
Ohio
USA
9363 Posts |
Posted - Oct 02 2007 : 12:37:15 PM
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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 |
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Across the Fence: Who Had a Hope Chest?? |
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Who Had a Hope Chest??
