Does anyone out there know what a pioneer girl was supposed to have in her hope chest before she got married? I'm a quilter and I noticed in several quilting articles that a hope chest was supposed to have 12 quilts or quilt tops. I'm curious as to what else was supposed to be in them. annette

-- annette (j_a_henry@yahoo.com), July 04, 2000

Answers

They were not pioneers, but my sisters made up hope chests in their teens. As I remember it was mostly embroided items such as pillow cases, hankerchiefs and napkins. I remember my younger sister saying her hope chest was "I hope I get a chest some day". She was amply rewarded.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 04, 2000.

I'm not sure there was always a set of rules, but probably a general guidline.

It would have been all sorts of things she would need to steart her new home depending on how early she started, at what age she married, and the wealth of the family that she could afford things to put into it.

I vaguely(sp?) remember Laura Ingalls having the 2 dresses she had made new upon her engagement and some towels?

Anyway that sort of thing: new dreses, towels, quilts(or tops), maybe even a tea set or some such special thing if it were available to her....

-- Novina West (lamb@stellarnet.com), July 04, 2000.

You can't go wrong with linens of every kind, such as sheets, pillowcases, towels, tea towels, dishcloths, washcloths, quilts, blankets, handherchiefs, cloth diapers. I am also very happy when I find the new underclothes and socks I have set aside for when I need them, night-clothes too.

-- A (Razerfish@aol.com), July 04, 2000.

In one of my needlework magazines the contents of a hope chest was most of the linens a new couple would need to set up house keeping. Most young girls started working on their hope chest when they were about 8 years old. By the time they were married they were suppose to have quilts, sheets, pillowcases, towels, and dresser scarves, anything they would need to make a home, because soon after marrage all sewing time was taken up with making baby items!

-- Becky Wagner (dandelion_01@hotmail.com), July 04, 2000.

When our two older daughters were about ten, we stopped buying them toys for Christmas and birthday presents, and instead started stocking "hope chests" for them. They both left home with enough kitchen stuff to get started, plus a few towels, etc. My sister, for middle daughter's graduation from college, gave her a tool kit with a few of the basic necessities like hammer, screwdrivers, pliers -- there's room for more stuff as needed. Not pioneers, just a practical modern adaptation!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), July 05, 2000.

Annette, I've never seen a specific list of the contents of a pioneer era hope chest. In part because it varied such a great deal due to the particular time, local tradition, ethnic background, and income. Very loosely, what seems to be pretty universal were examples of her fancy work, and usually more ulitarian linens. In some cases she was expected to have all the cloth-either woven and stored as yard goods, or made up into articles, or both-either to set up and run her new home for the first year, or for her entire married life. She would also have set aside any heirlooms that had come her way such as her great grandmother's tea cup.

As for quilts, they may or may not have been in the hope chest, depended on the girl and her background. In some cases there would be a thirteenth quilt. It might be the only top not quilted, or it may not have been started until she was engaged, and then she may or may not have had a hand in its making, again, her particular background comes into play.

Even for a girl who was not expecting, or hoping, to travel west, hope chests took up a lot of room, yet couldn't hold all that much. For a new bride who was going to travel any distance, there was very little she could take with her. There are still places out west where pioneers discarded furniture (rotted away now), tools and things like stoves which can occasionally still be found if you know where to look.

From most of what I've read, it seems that (again, according to her situation and ethnic background, etc) that a girl really kicked into high gear with her hope chest either as she approached or became a marriagable age, or became engaged. In some cases, the contents of her hope chest (really part of her dowry) would be displayed either for the husband-to-be's family to inspect and approve, or for the neighbors in a keeping up with the Jones' sort of thing. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), July 09, 2000.