What is a hope chest?
A hope chest, also called a dowry or wedding chest, is a trunk that was traditionally owned by a young girl in anticipation of her wedding day. To prepare for her impending marriage, a young girl would stockpile the items necessary for her future family, including heirlooms, silverware, and textiles like linens and quilts.
In the heyday of hope chests, textiles were among the most valuable items in the home, and so their careful coveting in a treasure-like chest made perfect sense in the context of the day. While the origin of hope chests is not known, the tradition can be traced back as far as Medieval Europe. At that time, hope chests were elaborately decorated (Michaelangelo is reported to have been commissioned for several). In America, when hope chests reached their pinnacle of popularity in the 17th and 18th Centuries, most were simple boxes made of cedar, with a girl’s name possibly carved on the front.
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