Hope Chests
A hope chest is one of the many highlights of a young woman`s life. Used to collect keepsakes, household linens, clothing and knick knacks, hope chests are kept by unmarried young women in expectation of married life.
Hope Chests were more commonly known as a coming-of-age rite until approximately the 1950s; it was typically a step on the road to marriage between dating a man and engagement.
A hope chest wasn't always a 'chest'; sometimes the alternative term 'bottom drawer' was used. Later it was adapted that a hope chest was an suitable gift for a girl approaching a marriageable age. Such chests may have been inherited from their mother or female relatives. They are still a popular gift from woodworking fathers.
A hope chest holds such items as clothing (especially a special dress), table linens, towels, bed linens, quilts and occasionally dishware. A bride will typically leave home on marriage; hope chests were designed as a way to help her and her new husband starting out in their new home.
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