(no subject)

[indri]

Is there an English term for a trunk or drawer full of things a girl's collected in preparation for her marriage? I thought I knew one, but it turns out to be Australian in origin.

Anyone?

Comments

[deadsoul820.livejournal.com]

Is "hope chest" the term you're looking for?

[indri]

Yes. The Australian term is "glory box" which sounds far too suggestive to me.

Thank you!

[makd.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's still done here in the States, but when I was a young woman (I'm 61.), we used to have "hope chests". These were wooden chests, preferably lined with cedar. We'd store linens and other items we "hoped" to be using when we were married.

I never had one, since my gran was a feminist and raised to have "hope in myself". I did, however, inherit my mother's hope chest. (See how ideas skip a generation?)

Of course, with the feminist revolution, most American gals hope for a really good job - good money, good benefits, etc.

Apparently, some gals still use hope chests! I just googled it and guess what I found? http://www.pioneerthinking.com/ch_hopechest.html

Have fun!

[indri]

I am thinking of Victorian times, so this should be just right. I did have one friend in high school who had one. Her family were literalist Christians, but I don't know if that had anything to do with it. (And as it turned out, her husband became the stay-at-home dad while she was the breadwinner.)

It must have been a fine thing to have had a feminist grandmother. They must be much more numerous now.

[herself_nyc]

trousseau

[herself_nyc]

trousseau

Or: hope chest

[makd.livejournal.com]

not quite. A lot of folks confuse the terms, which is easy to do.

Trousseaus go inside the hope chest. A trousseau referred to her clothing and linens, which were stored in the hope chest. There's more about it, here: http://honeymoons.about.com/cs/shopping/a/bridaltrousseau.htm

[indri]

"Hope chest" is the term I was after but this may be a US thing, so I'll have to consult my OED and see if trousseau is too.

My thanks.

[http://users.livejournal.com/peasant_/]

The collected stuff is the trousseau, but I've never heard a word for the trunk or drawer it is kept in.

[indri]

I've heard "hope chest" and "glory box" so now I'm off to consult the thick dictionaries and check their historical and geographic extent.

I may just have to reword the sentence.