Small Home Gazette, Spring 2019

History Brief: Faith and Hope in Your Hope Chest

A linen chest (or hope chest) is the American girl’s latest fancy, and she is reveling in this deliciously old fashion of getting her linen together long before she has selected her man—or he has selected her.

The price of a hope chest should not deter a girl from having one, as the stores are selling them from $3 up. Of course one can pay a fabulous price if one desires. It is wise to buy as good a one as can possibly be afforded, as it is something a girl will want to keep.

After she has bought the chest and brought it home, she should take care that every doily that she makes, every lunch cloth, every hemstitched tablecloth with napkins to match, etc., is carefully laid away.

And then when Prince Charming finally does make his appearance, and the day is set, with honest pride she can show him her store of household linen that proves that she is a tidy, thrifty girl and will make him a good wife.

Text from the newspaper The Saint Paul Globe, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 13, 1902.