Hope Chest or Glory Box
Does the tradition of the hope chest or glory box still continue in this day and age?
Back when I was young, young folk of either sex (but admittedly mostly girls) would begin at about 15 to collect items of household goods for a "glory box" towards their eventual new home with their husband/partner. Boys would often collect tools with which to either ply a trade or to use around the place for household maintenance.
In earlier times, such as my mother's day and grandmother's day, a girl's glory box consisted more or less of a trousseau and bed and table linens and the like. In my day, one collected other things such as kitchen utensils, along with tea towels, bath towels etc.
I'm wondering, what with the ubiquity of cheap goods etc, whether girls or boys even bother with this sort of thing any more?
Older women often kept examples of things that might be found in a glory box either for their own use, or to be given as a gift to a young relative on the announcement of their engagement or marriage.
I guess another factor in the dwindling use of a glory box is that young folk are marrying later, and moving out later. When I was young it was common to marry and move out of your parent's home at or before the age of 22. Now it's not uncommon to see young folk in their late 20s and early 30s still living at home.
When I learned that my younger daughter was moving home from England earlier this year (I learned about it late last year) I began gathering household stuff for her - things that were too heavy or bulky or breakable to be bothered bringing such a long way. In a strange way I really enjoyed doing that, often collecting goods from freecycle or buying them, sometimes on a sale at markdowns but often at full price. This is when I first noticed that the cost of things has come down significantly since I set up my own first household.
As a random example, the first cutlery set I owned cost about $25, in 1978. Back then, that represented about a sixth of my weekly wage. For my daughter I bought a cutlery set for less than $10 - an insignificant amount to a 2012 wage. A set of dishes was often given as a wedding gift in the late 70s and early 80s, and indeed I have one still from then (from my second wedding in 1983). A set of nice dishes can again be had for less than $15 now.
My mother had a set of nice bath towels that she had bought in the 1960s that had cost her a significant amount of money (around $50, half a week's wages or so - she bought it on layby), and when I moved out in the late 1970s she retired all her household towels and gave them to me, and brought out the nice new set for herself and my dad to use. Her nice set comprised about 6 towels with matching face washers (face cloths/flannels). I bought 6 towels with matching face washers for under $30, of a bigger size and nicer quality for my daughter.
Back when I was young, young folk of either sex (but admittedly mostly girls) would begin at about 15 to collect items of household goods for a "glory box" towards their eventual new home with their husband/partner. Boys would often collect tools with which to either ply a trade or to use around the place for household maintenance.
In earlier times, such as my mother's day and grandmother's day, a girl's glory box consisted more or less of a trousseau and bed and table linens and the like. In my day, one collected other things such as kitchen utensils, along with tea towels, bath towels etc.
I'm wondering, what with the ubiquity of cheap goods etc, whether girls or boys even bother with this sort of thing any more?
Older women often kept examples of things that might be found in a glory box either for their own use, or to be given as a gift to a young relative on the announcement of their engagement or marriage.
I guess another factor in the dwindling use of a glory box is that young folk are marrying later, and moving out later. When I was young it was common to marry and move out of your parent's home at or before the age of 22. Now it's not uncommon to see young folk in their late 20s and early 30s still living at home.
When I learned that my younger daughter was moving home from England earlier this year (I learned about it late last year) I began gathering household stuff for her - things that were too heavy or bulky or breakable to be bothered bringing such a long way. In a strange way I really enjoyed doing that, often collecting goods from freecycle or buying them, sometimes on a sale at markdowns but often at full price. This is when I first noticed that the cost of things has come down significantly since I set up my own first household.
As a random example, the first cutlery set I owned cost about $25, in 1978. Back then, that represented about a sixth of my weekly wage. For my daughter I bought a cutlery set for less than $10 - an insignificant amount to a 2012 wage. A set of dishes was often given as a wedding gift in the late 70s and early 80s, and indeed I have one still from then (from my second wedding in 1983). A set of nice dishes can again be had for less than $15 now.
My mother had a set of nice bath towels that she had bought in the 1960s that had cost her a significant amount of money (around $50, half a week's wages or so - she bought it on layby), and when I moved out in the late 1970s she retired all her household towels and gave them to me, and brought out the nice new set for herself and my dad to use. Her nice set comprised about 6 towels with matching face washers (face cloths/flannels). I bought 6 towels with matching face washers for under $30, of a bigger size and nicer quality for my daughter.