When I was a young girl some girls would start a "Hope Chest" around the age of 16. It would become filled with things for their future life and usually with the intent of a future husband.

So popular this was back then, that a local furniture store would get a list of female students of that age and go door to door selling "Hope Chests". He would also leave a free miniature sample of the style he was selling. My parents couldn't afford to buy one, but I still have that miniature with me today and as I was putting some jewelry in it I began to wonder about how things are today.

I am curious if that tradition has died out, or do some girls still do that. If so, then is it still with the intent of marriage or is it with the intent of moving out on your own...or simply both?



[This message has been edited by oc6 (edited 02-24-2007).]

Would another name be a time capsule?

quote:Originally posted by Euda:

Would another name be a time capsule?

That's what I was thinking.

But then again...aren't they for people in future other than themselves? and aren't they supposed to be buried and dug up several years later?

I don't know...

All I remember about time capsules is when Blue Peter dug one up once, but it wasn't sealed properly and all the stuff inside had gone rotten.

I've never head of girls having "Hope Chests".

quote:Originally posted by Euda:

Would another name be a time capsule?

I don't think so. That's for past memories and the like. This is for future living. Things like blankets, quilts, towels, flatware, glasses, etc.

They were for when a girl leaves her parents house.

They were called "Hope Chests" because the emphasis was on the "hope for marriage" and these were things for her to take with her into that marriage.

[This message has been edited by oc6 (edited 02-24-2007).]

In England the richer girls used to have a 'dower chest' , the poorer just had a 'bottom drawer'.

I guess like so much to do with marriage the custom didn't survive the onslaught of the post-pill Fem NAzis

That's sweet.

I really love that idea. For so many reasons.

I mean, regardless of any feminist anti-marriage bollocks, the sentiment is great. Hope for the future, preparation.

Seems to be something lacking these days, what with everything being 'Buy Now Pay Later' on your seventh credit card and whathaveyou.

Jx

quote:Originally posted by Jessic:



Seems to be something lacking these days, what with everything being 'Buy Now Pay Later' on your seventh credit card and whathaveyou.

Jx

The truth of the matter, methinks. When the wife and i married and FINALLY got our own appartment (we lived with her parents for 6 tortuous months) I simply went and got a bank loan for what we needed.

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

The truth of the matter, methinks. When the wife and i married and FINALLY got our own appartment (we lived with her parents for 6 tortuous months) I simply went and got a bank loan for what we needed.

They give out bank loans for cartons of cigarettes?

Nah, seriously, I'm living at home till I'm done my degree, and any postgraduate degree I might need. I'm not getting married before then, so when I do move out, I'll have either a nice house or a nice car. Yes, moving out at 17 would have been fun, but it would also have been impractical. Who'd cook, clean, keep me in line, and pay for everything?

This brings back a smile. My Grandmother put all these sorts of things aside for me, for when I moved out. The first place I moved into was so fully stocked that a family of four could have lived off of the things.

quote:Originally posted by Euda:

This brings back a smile. My Grandmother put all these sorts of things aside for me, for when I moved out. The first place I moved into was so fully stocked that a family of four could have lived off of the things.



Always assuming a family of four found a way of making orthopedic tights, deaf aids and incontinence pads edible? :P

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

Always assuming a family of four found a way of making orthopedic tights, deaf aids and incontinence pads edible? :P

My grandmother was in her 50's when I moved out the first time.

Didn't American girls used to make a quilt for their future marriage bed? I seem to remember reading that this practice is still upheld by the Amish.

This being of course back in the day when girls knew needles went into cloth and not their arms.

This practice also served as a 'proof' that the girl could sew. A skill no longer required in todays world (why sew when under nourished chinese girls can do it for you at 25c an hour???)

English girls tended to embroider rather naff pictures with uplifting sayings and bible verses on, called 'samplers'.

Aren't girls today more likely to have a nice little Dope Chest for when they move out?

quote:Originally posted by moonmeister:

Aren't girls today more likely to have a nice pert silicon Chest for when they move out?

fixed

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

fixed

Well? If what the media say is true, yer right!

I've seen a few stories about parents who pay for their teens to have $1000's in cosmetic surgery. Not just the funny noses? Real tits for grad & such.

I'm not sure about the US but in Brazil & Columbia it's supposed to be very popular.

This would be a cool tradition to start up again. Only if they aren't too marriage minded (18 is a bit young) maybe it can be a "Hope I get to move out and live on my own for a while) chest. You and your mom can go buy sheets, towels, and kitchen stuff when it is on sale and maybe your parents can save a hundred bucks a month as a going away gift/security deposit on an apartment. It would be cool if parents encouraged their kids to really be responsible adults instead of having them live with them in an extended childhood.

quote:Originally posted by specus_meretricis:

It would be cool if parents encouraged their kids to really be responsible adults instead of having them live with them in an extended childhood.

Exactly!

Jx

quote:Originally posted by specus_meretricis:

This would be a cool tradition to start up again. Only if they aren't too marriage minded (18 is a bit young) maybe it can be a "Hope I get to move out and live on my own for a while) chest. You and your mom can go buy sheets, towels, and kitchen stuff when it is on sale and maybe your parents can save a hundred bucks a month as a going away gift/security deposit on an apartment. It would be cool if parents encouraged their kids to really be responsible adults instead of having them live with them in an extended childhood.



Kinda nice idea but I guess most american parents are suffering from 'mal-tuition' (ie saving so their kids can go to college).

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:



Kinda nice idea but I guess most american parents are suffering from 'mal-tuition' (ie saving so their kids can go to college).

Oh I wasn't meaning kids that are going off to college. I was thinking more for the ones that are going to move out and start working.

The tradition isn't completely dead yet. I'm 18 and I've heard of a few girls at my school that have hope chests.

I remember this ... from reruns of Little House On The Prarie on Channel4. Amazing that people still do it (somewhere above). But then, America always has odd little bits of history floating about. Sometimes a good thing. Sometimes not.

quote:Originally posted by CptnCrackHound:

Hello OC,

It is no longer called a "Hope Chest". It is now called a bank account.

My experience has been girls/women today only care about the bank account. They want all the money to spend. They don't seem to care where it comes from just bring the money.

Now not to sound as if I am generalizing, I am saying the womem I have been around seem to want money and nothing else.

Then stop hanging around hookers! Besides...we want gift cards too!

quote:Originally posted by CptnCrackHound:

They don't seem to care where it comes from just bring the money.

Now not to sound as if I am generalizing, I am saying the womem I have been around seem to want money and nothing else.

I saw a girl turn down spending over $500 on whatever she wanted just recently; it was heartwarming.

I love the dope chest idea moonmeister. I'm going to buy\make\find one tommorow (no sarcasm). Imagine storing away a few of your favorite pills, a gram of opium, and a bottle of rum for the summer. That's responsibility.

I've heard of this hope chest idea. It's a good way to teach responsibility and shit like that. I know my mom used to have one...and a few of the more romantic type girls at my school have them. Its not as common as it used to be though. Things changed because this generation realizes that the last one failed and knows that we're not any better. There's no hope anymore, so there's no more chest.

quote:Originally posted by CptnCrackHound:



FIXED



Same thing!

quote:Originally posted by grungekid:

I love the dope chest idea moonmeister. I'm going to buy\make\find one tommorow (no sarcasm). Imagine storing away a few of your favorite pills, a gram of opium, and a bottle of rum for the summer. That's responsibility.



Yeah be carefull with that one.

If you're clearing out your stuff one day and come across some tacky wooden box and think

"god this box is sooo tacky, but my mum will love it!"

please please please for the love of god make sure it is empty *before* giving it to her!

I've never heard of a hope chest. It sounds kind of tacky.

I've had emergency escape plans, generally when I was living with my dad I allways envisioned different methods of getting out. Allways had a bag packed with basic clothes knives and teddy.



Teddy didnt make it.In the end,nothing made it except me.

quote:Originally posted by yoyobek:



Teddy didnt make it.

I feel your pain. My nerves are still raw from the kidnapping of Bobby-Bear.

quote:Originally posted by yoyobek:



I've never heard of a hope chest. It sounds kind of tacky.

I can think of things that are way more tacky. I think it's very practical.

Hah, hope for the future?

Live each day like it's your last!

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

Originally posted by moonmeister:

Aren't girls today more likely to have a nice pert silicon Chest for when they move out?

fixed

ya rly! my friend is getting a brand new car of her choice for her 17th, and for her 18th, a boob job up to an F or so. She honestly believes that being, tanned, blonde and literally skeletal with an F cup is the hottest thing around..

I have a savings account which became mine when I turned 16. Which is to go towards paying for my first car/university/deposit on first home.

My Nan has a habit of giving her granbdkids a chair, a blanket, and a shit load of buy-one-get-one-free food when they move out. It's kind of just an excuse for her to buy stuff though. She's one of those rich old ladies with nothing better to do with her money than buy the whole of oxfam and whatever safeways has on offer that week.