# Has the practice of having a Hope Chest finally died out? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492 "2020-12-07T17:46:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/61 "2020-12-16T02:21:01Z")
Funny the way children change our hopes and dreams. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/62 "2020-12-16T06:42:14Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > It might make more sense to buy things online and have them delivered to the new residence, or just give cash/gift cards for that purpose. Part of it is to get things when they’re on sale or the style/pattern your kid likes is around, you don’t necessarily get to set the timing of that first move. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/63 "2020-12-19T21:27:13Z")
At the funeral of my husband’s uncle, I heard a small child ask, “Is Grandpa in the hope chest?” (“Grandpa” would have thought that was hilarious.) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/64 "2020-12-20T05:25:12Z")
It is hilarious. Kids ask the best, most logical questions. But hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/65 "2020-12-20T17:38:56Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I definitely think that it was more common to have a “nice” cedar chest back in they day, specifically to keep the moths out of the nice wool blankets. But a cedar chest isn’t a Hope Chest. The point of a Hope Chest (which may be made of Cedar) is **to hold all the linens you embroidered for your future home** , back when girls of a certain social class would do that sort of thing. It might also contains any silverware you were gifted in “your” pattern. I honestly associate this more with the pre-WW2 era than after: it sounds to me like the Lane chests were an attempt to capitalize on the older tradition. That’s a mite confusing. How would you know what monogram to embroider on your linens _before_ you landed a fiance? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/66 "2020-12-20T17:45:32Z")
It isn’t only monograms that get [embroidered](https://www.boutiquedefrance.com/embroidered-tablecloths/379-cashmere-embroidered-tablecloth.html) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/67 "2020-12-20T17:52:31Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It isn’t only monograms that get [embroidered](https://www.boutiquedefrance.com/embroidered-tablecloths/379-cashmere-embroidered-tablecloth.html) Ta. This has been an enlightening thread. I never heard of Lane before today. I’m beginning to imagine that in some regions it used to be as much a household name for high school kids as Josten’s. At least for the girls. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/68 "2020-12-20T19:04:15Z")
A lot of it was also just hemming, I think. Putting neat, strong, even hems on a household’s worth of linens is no easy task. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/69 "2020-12-21T16:21:59Z")
I’ve only heard of them as things in old books, and like some other people associated them more with Victorian times than something within living memory. My mother got a job and moved out into a bedsit at 16, so she wouldn’t have had anything of the sort. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/70 "2020-12-22T22:56:02Z")
I recall reading in a Miss Manners book that girls embroidered their maiden name’s initials on linen. (She mentioned something about that being a good idea, in case the woman was later widowed, so they could be used in a different household.) The same rule held for engraved silverware. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/71 "2020-12-22T23:18:57Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > We had a cedar chest used to store blankets and such. I’ve still got it, and still so use it. But I never thought of it as a hope chest; we always called it ‘the cedar chest’ or ‘the blanket chest’, and I don’t think my mother had it before she married. Same here (class of '81 high school grad), but not sure when my mother (born late 1920s) acquired the cedar chest. Read about hope chests as a child and teen but had no expectation of having one or accumulating household linens for one. And yes, pre-marital initialing/monogramming of dry goods was done with the maiden-name initials of the girl in question. AFAIK this custom only really shifted to using married-name initials in the late 20th century, when department-store bridal registries and machine embroidery became so widespread that it was feasible to acquire all your household linen and silver—and to have it marked if you so desired—between the announcement of the engagement and the wedding itself. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/72 "2020-12-22T23:31:52Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > A lot of it was also just hemming, I think. And also making patchwork quilts, knitting blankets/comforters, and even [seaming fabric breadths together for bedsheets because extra-wide sheeting fabric wasn’t available commercially](https://sweetbeebuzzings.blogspot.com/2013/11/little-stitches-on-prairie.html): > [@](#): > > Laura was sewing two long breadths of muslin together to make a sheet. She pinned the edges together carefully and fastened them with a pin to her dress at the knee. Carefully holding the edges even, she whipped them together with even, tiny stitches. The stitches must be close and small and firm and they must be deep enough but not too deep, for the sheet must lie smooth, with not the tiniest ridge down its middle. […] > > "I have an idea for making the sheets,” Laura said. “I’m not going to sew those long seams down the middle with over-and-over stitch by hand. If I lap the edges flat and sew with the machine down the center, I do believe they’ll be smooth enough and even more serviceable.” > > “It may well be,” said Ma. “Our grandmothers would turn in their graves, but after all, these are modern times.” Not to mention constructing pillowcases, towels, etc. There was a hell of a lot of work involved in assembling a household’s worth of linens and other equipment, even before you got to the purely decorative elements such as embroidered initials and lace edgings. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/73 "2020-12-22T23:47:28Z")
I have been trying to figure out when sheets and tablecloths started to come already hemmed. I have an idea in my head it was later than people assume . . . that housewives were routinely putting hems on linens into like the WWI era. But I don’t know why I think that, and the internet is silent. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/74 "2020-12-22T23:59:05Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I have been trying to figure out when sheets and tablecloths started to come already hemmed. I have an idea in my head it was later than people assume . . . that housewives were routinely putting hems on linens into like the WWI era. But I don’t know why I think that, and the internet is silent. Gotcherback, sister, or at least I think so. Here’s a [June 1934 article](https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1934/6/1/linens) from the magazine Maclean’s discussing trousseau linens: > [@](#): > > IT ISN’T quite like the old days when dear old ladies began a patchwork quilt for granddaughter’s trousseau long before any beaux had appeared. Still, the hope chest isn’t altogether empty when the great day comes. The June bride of 1934 is collecting lovely linen for her new home, and she is just as proud of it as though she had strained her pretty eyes over infinitesimal stitches. She may add an initial or some touch of decoration, but she buys most things readymade from the latest “showing” in the smart shops. […] > > IT HARDLY pays to make your own sheets and pillowcases nowadays when you can buy them ready to put on the beds, and they don’t cost much, if any, more. Be sure to think of the size, for nothing is much worse than a “skimpy” sheet. Remember that measurements are given as cut before hemming. My advice is to buy the 108-inch length, for when made up and washed it will be about 98 inches—a good length for comfort. Sheets wear better if the same end is not always put at the top, and for this reason hems are usually the same top and bottom. So yeah, even in the 1930s it would not have been unheard-of for a bride to be making her own bed linens, and even commercially produced ones were routinely cut to custom length before hemming. I’ll bet many housekeepers even in that period had sheets custom cut but hemmed them at home. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/75 "2020-12-23T01:27:58Z")
Thank you! That was my impression. It may come from reading too many girl’s books (not just Little House, but also Anne Shirley and Betsy-Tacy!) or my own grandmother’s stories. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/76 "2020-12-26T16:09:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I never heard of Lane before today. I’m beginning to imagine that in some regions it used to be as much a household name for high school kids as Josten’s. At least for the girls. What is Josten’s? Also, i think of a trousseau as being the collection of goods, not any particular container to put them in. You store your trousseau in the hope chest, if you happen to own a hope chest. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/77 "2020-12-26T16:25:57Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I never heard of Lane before today. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > What is Josten’s? I have a couple of pieces of Lane that I got at an estate sale. Decent stuff—plywood, not particle board dressers. Growing up in the Midwest we had Herff Jones instead of Josten’s. These are class rings, graduation announcements, probably more school-related stuff. We had the choice of “square” or “round” for our rings plus a few other things. Have you seen them lately? Some go for dog tags, bracelets, lockets… > **[CUSTOM HIGH SCHOOL CLASS JEWELRY | Jostens](https://www.jostens.com/jewelry/class-jewelry/high-school/)** > > Celebrate your high school experience with a custom class ring from Jostens. Explore our selection of personalized gold and sterling silver high school rings. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/78 "2020-12-26T23:01:02Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > I never heard of Lane before today. > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > What is Josten’s? > > I have a couple of pieces of Lane that I got at an estate sale. Decent stuff—plywood, not particle board dressers. > > Growing up in the Midwest we had Herff Jones instead of Josten’s. These are class rings, graduation announcements, probably more school-related stuff. We had the choice of “square” or “round” for our rings plus a few other things. Have you seen them lately? Some go for dog tags, bracelets, lockets… > > [CUSTOM HIGH SCHOOL CLASS JEWELRY | Jostens](https://www.jostens.com/jewelry/class-jewelry/high-school/) For me, Josten’s was the company that did class rings and yearbooks. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/79 "2020-12-27T23:05:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Plus it’s subliminal reinforcement of the idea that they’re going to move the fuck out of our house as soon as possible. > > I should mention that we’d do it regardless of the gender of our kids. 🙂 That was my experience with a “hope chest” growing up. Starting around 6th grade, several deaths in the family resulted in my house being flooded with cedar chests. My parents ended up keeping two – a nice Lane chest in the style of a lowboy, but with a top that opened like a traditional chest; and a very plain chest (possibly handmade). We used them for linen storage until I was in high school, when my sudden interest in Fiestaware caused my dad to realize that at some point very soon I would be living on my own. With a little input from me, he and my mom started stocking the plain cedar chest with useful household items – a couple of sets of Fiesta, basic pots and pans, inexpensive (but durable!) towel sets from Lowes – so that I would be set. I also ended up receiving quite a few small appliances as high school graduation gifts. So yeah, while I definitely wasn’t familiar at all with the traditional concept of a “hope chest,” the one I had ended up being very beneficial to me. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492/80 "2020-12-28T16:25:24Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > I never heard of Lane before today. I’m beginning to imagine that in some regions it used to be as much a household name for high school kids as Josten’s. At least for the girls. > > What is Josten’s? Josten’s is the company that does the yearbooks and graduation paraphenalia. At least that was when I was in high school (graduated 1998). I had no idea they were still around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-practice-of-having-a-hope-chest-finally-died-out/927492.md?page=5)