Nope I never had one...

Had friends that did.

patti

Not a hope chest per se, but by the time I was 17-18, I was working in a linen store, and was starting to stockpile great buys in the back of my closet ((I'm 58 and STILL am using some of the towels I bought back then!!!!) I also fell in love with the dishes my bank was giving out (a free place setting when you opened an account, $3 for each additional place setting). So I started collecting them. Still using them as my good dishes, too--they're a very pretty, very classic style, but not so expensive that I have to sit there gritting my teeth when someone cuts meat on them (my sister's a mess with her good Lenox--you're half afraid to eat at her house).

I would really have loved to have a real hope chest--but just never got one. Yours sound lovely.

I got mine for high school graduation. Now I have mine and my mom's. I always called them cedar chests, not hope chests.

My brother made me a mammoth hope chest (cedar chest) for my 16th birthday and I still have it. My tv, dvd player etc sit on it. Don't know what's in it since all the electronics have to move before it can be opened.
My daughter got one from same brother 3 or 4 years ago, hers has lots of 'hope' type stuff in it. When she was going through her messy room phase, I use to lift one end and throw crap in there that was on the floor - plus she has her baby blanket and favorite toy in there.
Suzan J

I had a hope chest but was not a fanatic about filling it.

My youngest daughter and the two boys who lived across the street were like sister and brothers. When the oldest boy was in high school he made a hope chest in his woodworking class and gave it to her for Chistmas. When she got married her father had been dead for many years and the boys' father gave her away.

I did not have one. My girlfriend got one for Christmas the year she was a sophomore in high school. She put all kinds of things in it and every holiday would recieve things to go into it.
She was killed in a car accident shortly after high school and her mom asked me to go through that hope chest with her.
It was so so sad to see all those things that held so much 'hope' for Barbara.

Didn't have a hope chest. Did the same as Azzalea.

I inherited my mothers after her death. My grandparents gave my mother hers, and my grandmother said that she wanted me to have it. It has many of my mothers special things in it still. I put a few things in there through the years....now it has the girls baby blankets and clothes.

My father built each of the girls a hope chest. They have alot of their favorite toys, books and stuffed animals in them, waiting to give them to their kids.

My Dad made mine, but always called it my cedar chest. I don't think many girls get them anymore. Kathy

I had a large cardboard box in the corner of my room. LOL! But after I was married and pregnant, my Dad made one for my baby to use as a toy box. When she grew up, my DH lined it with cedar for her.

Since then DH has had a beautiful blanket box made for me.

I always wanted one. Never had one. But I am such a "throw away" freak, I would have probably cleaned it out a few times, and gotten rid of stuff anyways.

I bought one when I was 18 or 19 at a little local store, got it a couple hundred less because of a small chip on top. I still have it. Didn't really fill it will stuff you would normally put in it. I put some kimonos and other keepsakes, though, to keep them "safe".

When my Mother was a girl, her Dad transformed the top of a wash stand into a "hope chest" for her. When I was a teenager, it was passed along to me and filled as the years passed. It is now the coffee table in my living room. DH made an iron stand for it, and it is filled with bedding for the "littles" visits...they each have their favorite sheets and blankets in there! I guess ours is a multigenerational hope chest. There is already some debate about who gets it next :^)

As a young teen (early 70s) I really wanted one and embroidered a couple sets of pillowcases in anticipation of getting one! LOL

My dear Grandmother wanted to get me one, but then she decided it would cause me to want to "get married" (she meant 'have s@x') so she said I should wait to get one until I was 25. She had this same restricting view on many, many aspects of me life, bless her heart. She did mean well.

When I was a junior in high school a dear family friend re-worked on of his plain tool chests, painted it, add a "till" shelf, and appliquéd cupids on it. He gave it to me, but Grandma immediately took possession of it. She did love it; perhaps she had longed for one, too. She said I could have it "later."

I took it after her death and I love it dearly for many reasons. It's smaller than most, and has traveled the world with me, even through my military years.

The MIL has her aunt's huge cedar hope chest, circa 1920s-30s. She's "promised" it to me and even shown it to me.

By the time I was 25 I had been married, divorced, crushed, strengthened, and lost all "hope" of the romance that surrounds Hope chests.

I never had one, but I have a little story in regards to a Hope Chest.

When I was in High School and working at Penney's, a new salesman was hired. He and I started dating, which BTW, was against Penney's rules. Of course word got around and another girl was very jealous. One day a group of us were talking about Hope Chests, and I said something about buying some of the pretty towels that had just come in.

Miss Jealous said I shouldn't buy the white ones, if they were for my Hope Chest because they would turn yellow before I ever got married!!

Get the drift? I still laugh about that, but, no, I didn't marry the guy.

Sue

I never had one, but marygailv's post was so sweet. That's something I'm sure her daughter will always cherish.....both the chest and the father giving her away were a beautiful gift from the heart. What special people they must be.

"When she got married her father had been dead for many years and the boys' father gave her away."

I found a picture of the chest Grandma and I "shared." Of course, every photo I take has Harry includes Harry.

Did! Started my sterling silver back in middle school.

Never had one but bought some princess house pans and my mom and I joked that I could put them in my hopeless chest. That was about 18 years ago and I still have 2 of the pans.

no but i do have one my grandmother was given...lane cedar chest..

This is an interesting question! I bet girls don't even think about hope chests any more. They're too busy doing their college applications! LOL! Good for them.

Yes, I had one. My mother bought it for me, Lane brand. It still sits in my dining room stuffed with things we've collected, photo albums, etc.

Last Sunday daughter, who's bought a home and is moving to AZ, visited a friend near here and son and I were with them for dinner. Her friend had stored her hope chest after the breakup of her Mom's home and we carried it for her as she stowed it in the borrowed station wagon to take back to TO for the movers, next Saturday.

Marriage lasted about 5 years, they sold their home (for some loss) on breakup.

Then she was alone for a few years, then in a relationship for about four years ... and that's breaking up.

Don't know what's in the hope chest. Maybe we should have hited around to have her display some of the things.

ole joyful

Yep, I have a Lane. Got it for my 16th b'day, I believe. My DB called it my hopeless chest. Wonder why my mother kept putting "stuff" in it, like dishes, glasses, pan, etc. for me? Ya think, she was dropping a hint?
Still have mine, plus have my grandmothers.
When we graduated from high school, Lansing, MI, one of the local stores gave all of the girls coupons for a small Lane hope chest, 9"w x 5"d x 4"h. I keep it on the table right next to my chair to hold all kids of junk at my fingertips!
Kathy G in MI

Kathyg, I had one of those small Lane cedar chest that I kept letters in. I must have gotten mine free with a coupon when I graduated high school. Don't know what happened to mine over the years.

Kathy, I too have one of those miniature lane chests, there was a store here that gave them away to graduating girls. I do have a hope chest, it belonged to my father and his wife, my step-mother, she gave it to me after he died. It has a drawing of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on it, I believe it was a Lane special edition in 1976.

In high school, I had a friend, Lynn, who had a hope chest and got linens and silverwear, etc as birthday and Christmas gifts. She was the only girl I knew who had one. She got married straight out of high school, had three kids, then got a divorce. She has a hard time now, she didn't get much financial support from her ex. She has only a high school degree, and works as a clerk in a grocery store these days. Pity, she was very bright when I knew her.

My Uncle made one for his sister, my Mom in HS. He is in his 90's and my mom has been gone for many years. She was born in 1900, and years ago, she was going to throw it away. I grabbed it quick because it was so beautiful. He made it from pure ceder with a little shelf inside with hinges. When you lifted the lid, the shelf went up and back so it was easy to get things. My DH finished it when I had it, and I kept many of my grandmas (2) things in it. My youngest DD has it now and just loves it. I too have one of those minature chests from Lanes. Just found it the other day and forgot where it came from until you guys reminded me.

I still have one.DH bought mine when he bought us a new bedroom set in 1963,when we moved to Maine.
This is the color of it then,but last month i re-furbished it.It was covered with cigarette burns from back in the days of his smoking,and for years i said i was going to re-do it and this year i finally did.So here's before:

And here's after:

Don't know what took me soooooooooooooo long to do this,but i'm very happy with the results.
Kathi

Kathi...You did a fantastic job. It's absolutly beautiful. I think it's even more fantastic that you kept the original hardware. Now you have the best of both decades!

I got one of those little Lane boxes too! This is a real trip down memory lane.

I inherited my mother's cedar chest. It's a Lane and was her high school graduation gift in 1947. I never did use it as a "hope" chest. I keep blankets and some mementos in it. I just love it and my daughter is looking forward to owning it someday.

Hey, I have one of the little Lane cedar boxes too! The local furniture store gave them away to all high school grads. Still have mine. I keep stuff from my school days in it, rosaries, scapulas, prayer cards, etc. Any one remember those from your Catholic school days?

~Betsy

I'm jealous, I don't have a small Lane cedar chest, although my big one is a Lane. Several years ago they were telling us to send for some kit for the lock as several children had suffocated in them but I never did. I hope I'm never sorry about that, but now my youngest grandchild is 15 and I don't see any pending great-grandchildren in the near future.

I got mine when I graduated high school in 1974. I also have my mothers. They are both Lane chests, and I adore them.
I keep all my kids school stuff in them and memory things.
It will probably be a tear a thon after I am gone and my kids go through them. They are both loaded with memories.
Did you know that lane will send you free locks if you contact them through their website? seems as though the auto locking mechanism was deemed dangerous at some point and kids could lock themselves inside, unable to get out.
I never changed mine out, but am very careful when I have the grands over. Just something to think about.

Trin

My parents gave me one, that was limed oak when I graduated from high school and I collected things before I got it so those things went into it. It is a Lane. I still have it and a couple of years ago when breaking up Mother's household items, me being the oldest got my Mother's and my sister got my Aunt's. Both cedar chests were given as wedding gifts to my Mother and Aunt full of hand made doilies, scarves and embroidered pillowcases and things made by my Grandma, their Mother. So they are both rather old, from the early, early 30's or before.

Sue

When we graduated from high school, Lansing, MI, one of the local stores gave all of the girls coupons for a small Lane hope chest, 9"w x 5"d x 4"h. I keep it on the table right next to my chair to hold all kids of junk at my fingertips! I still have mine from 1977 on the shelf above my computer!! lol

I didn't have a real hope chest, I had a box in the closet I think. Later I did buy an old chest and now it is filled with memento stuff from my childhood and early adulthood.

Nope - have never had one, either large or small. Funny thing, too, cause I got married at 18! Should have known then that there was no "Hope"! LOL

I had one of the mini lanes as well,they gave them to all the girls in my graduating class in 56.Wonder what ever happened to that??

That one i refinished is a lane also.In the first picture where it's that greyish white color,i had already started sanding the top when i realized i should have taken a before picture,so that's why it looks even worse than it did b4 i started.Before the top was covered with cigarette burns.Thank Goodness he no longer smokes!!
Kathi

Didn't have a hope chest until I started working after high school. Bought a cedar chest at Montgomery Wards (not a Lanes) and still have it. It was a couple of years afterward that I got married. Before the chest I kept 'hope chest' items in a box.

I got one of the mini Lane cedar chest when I graduated in '55 and it's on a bedside table with odds and ends in it.

My mother had a Lane cedar chest to store our out of season and hand me down clothes in. It had such a wonderful smell, and I loved the smell the clothing picked up from the cedar. I still remember her gathering us kids around it in early spring to see what would fit whom for the summer. Then again the fitting of clothes for school from the chest in the fall.

I do remember my sisters and I each getting one of those little Lane chests from the local Lane dealer. They gave one to every graduating girl.

But none of us had a hope chest. My parents' hope was that each of us would earn a degree so that we could provide for ourselves the rest of our lives. A bachelor's degree was our hope chest, I guess.

I was given one as a high school graduation gift from my parents (along with a set of luggage... think they were trying to tell me someting?)

Some of my mom's sisters gave me household things for HS graduation, set of baking pans, some towels. My hope chest stayed at home and really did hold that stuff while I was in college. Last couple years of college, I took the towels and baking pans to my apartment. I didn't take the hope chest until DH and I had been married a year or so and into a big enough apartment to bring it. (My parents were moving then too, so I had to take all my stuff still at home.)

Now my hope chest hold memories: yearbooks, grad cap/gown from HS and college, my diploma is in there! My wedding gown is also there, the cake server used at the wedding, a scrapbook I made in brownies. A journal I kept when pregnant w/ DS#1. All sorts of stuff, it's fun to go through on a rainy day. It sits in my bedroom, and also holds piles of various stuff. LOL.

Now that I think about it, I guess it's more important to me that I thought. Maybe I'll plan to get DD one at about the same age.