I had one I would always buy something at the Tupperware parties my Mom had, or the Princess House or whatever. If I saw dish towels on sale I would buy some, etc.

Did anyone else have one??? Do people still do these???

__________________
Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I have one, I honestly don't know if many people still do it, but I want to pass mine onto my little girl when she gets older. My mom had one and I always wanted her to do that to me, but she had to get rid of it for some reason. So my goal is to give it to my daughter, which she's only 3, lol, so it will be a while.

I did one for my boys..


So, I did it for a few years. Put the box in the garage, and added to it over those years.

Then one day.. it was clean the garage day with dad and boys.


Box, along with many other valuable items, came up missing and haven't been seen since. I am guessing these items went into the "This side stays here pile" which ended up being the "This side goes to the trash pile".

You know how guys are with their directions! LOL

I still have mine. I also had Tupperware and Princess House in mine too. I have used the Tupperware, but after 35 years the Princess House is still there.

I made my in High School Wood shop class. Still have it! Right now I have boxes of pictures in mine, and some crochet blankets that were made for me.

__________________

I still have mine. My mom bought it for me for high school graduation. It's in my closet, and I keep shoes in it. LOL

__________________
Forgiveness is love in its most noble form. -Anonymous

I don't have a "hope chest" for my dd. But I do put away things for her. She has quite a bit of stuff put away. Towels, dishes, toaster oven, glasses etc. We are running out of room for all this stuff.
I do have the cedar chest that was my grandmothers hope chest in my room. I keep my sweaters in it,

Not around here. I don't know anyone who has one -- my mom included. I guess I wouldn't be all that happy if she'd made one up for me. I would want to pick out my own towels, dishes, glasses, and so on.

I don't have one, but growing up, one of my best friends had one, and I remember how jealous I was that her mom would do something like that for her.

I have a Lane hope chest I was given at age 16. Both my daughters have hope chests and love them. They fill them with all there high school memoriabilia and now that they are married, all wedding memories are kept inside.

I don't have one and don't know anyone my age who does have one. My mom and aunt have one. I don't think I've known anyone that wasn't my mom's age or older that has one. I don't even recall seeing them at furnishing stores anymore???

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I have one that I inherited it from my mother when she passed away. Its a lane ceder chest and it now stores some shirley temple dolls and collectors plates, and a amish quilt my mother had hanging that I took when she passed. At the time she onlu had one granddaughter now three so I kept it for the oldest one. because she grew up really getting to know this one. And also some jewelry for her.

How old are you? Because your making me feel old and I'm only 32, lol.

I did not have one. I was going to college to become an engineer, not get married and play house. Maybe some people (girls/women) still have hope chests, but I would think (hope!) by and large that women have moved past the concept of a hope chest (dowry chest, whatever you want to call it). According to wikipedia, they were popular into the mid-50s.

IMHO of course.

cj/

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Yep, I had a Lane hope chest as well that now resides in my DD's new house. She laid claim to it when she was about 12 or 13

My mom has a cedar chest that she keeps memento type things in: a little sweater a friend knitted for me when I was a baby, topper off wedding cake, afghan someone crocheted for her, etc.

I'm not completely clear on what a hope chest is. Sounds like a collection of household things purchased for a young woman for her to use once she gets married? If that is the case then it seems rather sexist to me. I would've been very offended if my mother had created a hope chest like that for me.

But I think it's cool if a hope chest is a collection of mementos given to a child once they are old enough to set up their own housekeeping.

__________________
Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

Mine was a collection of things I had gotten to use when I moved out onto my own place. I had some dishes, linens from my grandmom (old) and little odds and ends I had picked up along the way. When I went to colege, I had my apart pretty much set, so I was glad I had put these things aside. I didn't marry right after mving out of my parent's house so I don't think it was meant for that. At least that's not how I took it. I jsut thought it was a way to plan for your futuer after you leave your parents house, married or single.

I don't see what that has to do with going to school to be an engineer? I went to be an architect (NJIT) but still planned on having a house and family someday? I would hope that you wouldn't think any woman would have to actually CHOOSE one or the other? And IMO it isn't a dowry, but a loving gesture from a mom to a daughter to get her started on her own?

I thought women's lib was from the 60's?

IMHO of course.

__________________
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I didn't have a hope chest, but I did buy things (clearance price of course) to put aside for when I moved out of my parents. When I moved out I didn't have to worry about towels, dishes, pots & pans, etc. It was a tremendous relief not having to worry about that kind of stuff right after moving in - especially as I didn't have any extra money the 1st month. I'm glad my parents taught me to plan in advance. I'm doing the same thing with my 2 ds. I think it's working. My oldest ds (16) was with me when I found out that the Revere pots I have are being discontinued. I bought a couple extra pots and covers. He asked me if I could buy a couple for him to put away and he'd pay me back when we got home. I was so shocked and excited to see him planning for his future.
Judy

I still have my "hope chest" (it's oak outside and cedar lined inside) that sits at the end of my bed. It has a beautiful cushion top and honestly, it's something I look back at and think of the love that was put into it by my father for building it and my mother for filling.

I can remember the girls that I hung out with (there were 8 of us that did almost everything together) and only 1 didn't receive something similiar to mine. (I'm 37) She felt so bad. Her mother had never heard of such a thing, as they came from Washington State two years prior. It must be a regional thing!

Will I do it for my boys? You bet! Not sure what kind of chest I'll put the stuff into, but to us, it's a way of helping them get on their feet.

Dear Flipper,

I was going by the traditional definition of a hope chest that I had in my head, that was supported by others via wikipedia, referenced below. It sounds as if your view of a hope chest is different than mine.

In any event, the point was that I was leaving home to go to college (what I was studying is immaterial, sorry for the superfluous information), not to set up house.

Regards,
cj/

A hope chest, dowry chest, or glory box is a chest used to collect items of clothing or household linen, by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life.

The term "hope chest" may be used primarily by Midwestern and Southern U.S. women, "glory box" is used by women in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Social context of a hope chest
The collection of a trousseau was a common coming-of-age rite until approximately the 1950s; it was typically a step on the road to marriage between dating a man and engagement. It wasn't always collected in a special chest, hence the alternative UK term 'bottom drawer'[1], but such a chest was an acceptable 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.

Contents of a "hope chest" or "glory box" included typical dowry items such as clothing (especially a special dress), table linens, towels, bed linens, quilts and occasionally dishware.

As a bride would typically leave home on marriage, hope chests were made with an eye to portability, albeit infrequent.

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I have my mom's, claimed it pretty early....lol
I look at it as a place to keep my special items that I want to save forever.
I have baby blankets, a family christening gown, DH baby/kid items, relics from my grandparents, etc in it.

Nothing like a dowry, if DH had expected that he would have been SOL!
I did have quite a bit of "house" stuff in the basement though....lol, I knew I wasn't going to live with mommy and daddy forever!
MIL was actually annoyed that she couldn't shop for dishes, etc with me ....lol
I am still using my baking pans, knives, pots and pans, tupperware, etc 17 years later.

I have a hope chest. It was given to me by my husband(boyfriend at the time) as a birthday gift. This was before we were engaged. We both filled it with stuff for our first place and it was really our first peice of furniturI never heard of a mother or father giving it to you. It was always your boyfreind. I was brought up in Massachusetts. I still have mine but I hate the style so just store stuff in it. They were all Lane ones in my time which was in the late 60`s.

__________________

When you don`t know what to do-Walk fast and look worried.