 |
| A young woman dreams of things to come. Her hope chest is lined with cedar. Cedar repels insects and linens and quilts are common items found in hope chests. |
A hope chest, also called dowry chest, cedar chest, trousseau chest or glory box
is a piece of furniture traditionally used to collect items such as
clothing and household linen, baby items etc... by unmarried young women in anticipation
of married life.
The term "hope chest" or "cedar chest" is used in the midwest or
south of the United States in reference to a collection of items that a young girl receives from her family for her future life, apart from her family, either shared with a husband or alone. In the United Kingdom, there is a similar term use called the "bottom
drawer"; while "glory box" is used by women in Australia.
The modern tradition of keeping a hope chest is derived from an earlier era when young girls were expected to keep dowries. However, a modern hope chest is not a dowry. Modern hope chests are full of personal belongings. This collection of possessions often reflects the girl's heritage, faith, customs and certainly her personal tastes. This "hope chest" is not always stored inside a piece of furniture but it may just be a phrase used for a collection kept by a girl in her parents home inside a closet somewhere. Hope chests in years past and especially from the pioneer era of American history, have been literal trunks or chests containing a collection of linens. Often times these linens were made by the girl herself. These trunks may have included quilts, table linens and crockery passed down to her by relatives far in advance of her even being old enough to wed.
A dowry, in specific, is a transfer of parental property at the marriage of a daughter. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service
is a payment by the groom or his family to the bride's parents, a dowry
is the wealth transferred from the bride's family to the groom or his
family, ostensibly for the bride. Similarly, dower
is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at the time
of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control.
Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate
records of it. Dowries continue to be expected, and demanded as a
condition to accept a marriage proposal, in some parts of the world,
mainly in parts of Asia, Northern Africa and the Balkans. In some parts of the world, disputes related to dowry sometimes result in acts of violence against women.
The custom of dowry is most common in cultures that are strongly patrilineal and that expect women to reside with or near their husband's family (patrilocality). Dowries have a long history in Europe, South Asia, Africa and other parts of the world.
In either case, these possessions are fought over when there is a divorce because of the legalities associated with them. In the United States, there are no such laws concerning the transfer of personal items/property originating from the bride's hope chest. If she leaves her husband, those personal items belong to her alone and some of this property can be quite valuable.
Wedding gifts are considered mutual property and sometimes these are similar to that property found inside of a hope chest, but the two are not acquired in the same way or at the same time as wedding gifts and this is why, the courts treat the property differently.
What to put inside a hope chest of your own?
God Keeps Hope Chests Too?
What to put inside a hope chest of your own?
God Keeps Hope Chests Too?
No comments:
Post a Comment