When a
family gave birth to a girl they would start to assemble a hope chest to hold
items for her trousseau. A hope chest was a hand painted or carved wood chest
that was slowly filled with household linins, clothing, and silverware. Women
would take their hope chests with them when they got married. Linins took an
incredible amount of time to make from scratch, so this process was started
when girls were very young. After the Industrial revolution, cloths were made
very fast and inexpensively. Families then purchased cloth and use their
electric sewing machines to make linins or bought ready made linins. Hope
chests were treasured family heirlooms and passed on to future generations.
By Nicole Mazzeo
Wrapwithus
wedding favors
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