What Goes in a Hope Chest?
Hope chests, also known as cedar chests or glory boxes, originated as a way for a woman to collect and store items she would need when she married and began her new life. Fathers often created the chest out of wood and mothers helped fill them with various household items. Today, since most couples already have many of the items needed to begin their married life, hope chests represent a symbolic gift from family members or a way for women to store cherished heirlooms as well as handcrafted items.
What goes in a hope chest? Why, hope, of course! And… …A young girl’s hopes and dreams for her future wedding and married life. Things to remind her of the home she has come from, and other things to prepare her for the new home she will be starting. Hope chests are as varied and different as the dreams that are placed in them, and there is no tradition so sacred that it trumps individuality when it comes to your hope chest. Want to fill yours with luxurious linens for your bridal bed? Go for it. More of an old photos and family albums kind of girl? Fill ‘er up. Or perhaps you just want to be practical: you’ll always need dishes and flatware, right? To paraphrase Thomas á Kempis: Whatever you put inside, that’s what you’ve put inside. The hope chest tradition began in the Middle Ages, a time when castles were king and brides came with a “dowry”–a fancy name for whatever she brought to her husband in marriage. Just because it’s old, however, doesn’t mean the practice is passè. Quite th
