The Legacy of the Hope Chest

The Legacy of the Hope Chest

By

Karen Utter Jennings 

            Hoping and wishing and thinking and dreaming…..

            Weddings play a big part of nearly every little girl’s dreams. The tradition of the hope chest began in the middle Ages when all families expected that their girls would marry a handsome man and live a blissful life. Preparations began as soon as the daughter was born and a family’s hopes and dreams for their young girl were placed in a wooden chest or box.

            In Italy, these highly- decorated boxes were called “cassones,” in Germany they were “shranks” and when European immigrants arrived in America, they brought their idea of chests with them. They were called “hope chests” or “blanket chests” and were made of cedar wood to protect the contents from bugs.  

            During Word War I, the Lane Company, based in Virginia, manufactured wood ammunition boxes for the United States government. After the war, the market for the boxes faded, and they turned to producing wooden chests geared to the natural romantic spirit of girls. The Lane Hope Chest was born. Today, Lane chests are a popular choice for hope chests.

            But, what goes into a hope chest? The answer depends on the personal ideas, choices and thoughts for the chest’s owner. Typically, things such as collections of all types, books, photos and albums, linens and quilts, dishes, antiques, and baby items may be placed inside.  

            Today, the idea of a hope chest does not necessarily mean a young woman’s dream is to get married. She may dream of being an entrepreneur and having her own business after she graduates university and decides to remain single. Anything that represents your interests should be cherished. Hope chests are just that: place your hopes and dreams of whatever kind of life you want, inside. When you are ready for that life, the hope chest is there with all your planning inside.

            Hope chests are not just for girls. Boys, too, need to be encouraged to keep their memorabilia and keepsakes. One might want to title a chest for their son as a “treasure chest.” You can envision what a treasure chest might look like. Explore the possibilities with your son or grandson to peek his interest in keeping such a chest.

            Today’s market offers plenty of styles, shapes, sizes and colors. From the traditional “folk art” piece to the modern sleek chest, explore the possibilities before you choose which chest will hold your hopes and dreams. The future can be placed in a chest.            

            I have my own hope chest. As a child, we lived in the same small town as my paternal great-grandmother, Ollie Johnson Utter Brier.  And I was in her house just as much as I was in my own home.

            One of the pieces of furniture Ollie owned was an old cedar chest. The chest is made of cedar wood and is a traditional size. It sets on the floor (there are no legs) and has carved-wood handles on each end of the lid. Rectangular diamond-shaped wooden pieces adorn the front and sides of the cedar chest and it is very heavy.    

            As I grew into a young girl, one day when I went to visit, the cedar chest was setting in the living room under the front window. Great-grandma Ollie and I sat on the hardwood floor next to the chest. She explained that the chest would be mine when she died or when I got married, whichever came first. She called the cedar chest a hope chest and explained the meaning of it.  She encouraged me to cherish my keepsakes. She said she was “setting things back” for me when I grew up and married, so the things inside were mine for my new life that lay ahead of me.

            She told me that my grandfather, her only son, Perry Utter, made the chest when he was a boy.  She said Perry was talented in woodworking and he loved to make things.  Ollie’s father, Thomas “Bud” Johnson, was a logger and hewed lumber on the old home place in McDonald County, Missouri. Perry learned the wood making trade from his Pa Johnson.

            As Ollie’s gnarled hands lifted the lid, I saw several things inside wrapped up with doilies and handkerchiefs (hankies as we called them) and laying next to each other. She lifted the first item out of the chest, unwrapped it, and handed me a German pickle dish that was very old and worth a lot of money. She told the story of the dish and that it had belonged to a female family member.  

            Ollie brought out a square box that housed her Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera. Her story about cameras and her love of taking pictures is one that I will always remember.  As soon as cameras became available, she bought her first one and began snapping pictures of everything around her, especially her family. Along with the camera, she gave me her photo album.

            When we reached the bottom of the cedar chest, we rewrapped each item and placed them back into their safe place. She closed the lid on the chest and I ran off to play.   

            I am happy to say, I got married before her death, so the cedar chest came to live at my house.  Over the years, it lost its strong scent of cedar and it needed a good cleaning and a few repairs. I used soap for wooden furniture and left it as it is. I never want to refinish it, as doing so would diminish the vintage charm.

            As time goes by, I add things to the old hope chest and someday I will sit with my granddaughter to explain the history of the ephemera and memorabilia. I have placed my hopes and dreams that they will one-day carryon the tradition of passing down heirlooms through the generations into my hope chest.

            What about you? Have you created legacy for your children or grandchildren? Do you have a hope chest filled with your hopes and dreams?

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Disclaimer: in my legacy writing, I do not intend to be sexist, bias, or unethical toward gender or nationality. I merely write and report the facts that I have found and those that I know from my own personal experience. 

Rural Country Correspondents in Southwest Missouri

Country Correspondents in Rural Southwest Missouri

By Karen Utter Jennings

In the good old days when newspapers were young, editors relied on country correspondents to report the news from the rural areas. Country correspondents, also called community correspondents, lived in small communities in our counties and gathered local news of their area for the newspaper. They took their written news to the newspaper office themselves or sent it via someone else making the trip to town.  

Rural life in the hills and hollows was brimming with news of people working, births, deaths, accidents and socializing.  However, getting that news to the newspapers meant using correspondents. There were no telephones and the mail system was not reliable to deliver the mail in a timely manner.  Many times, the mail hack was late due to high water when trying to ford a creek, or while encountering other difficulties.

Many people scoffed at community news, comparing it to gossipy rubbish. At the same time, people clamored to read the latest news reported in their community column. Correspondents were made fun of, but they eventually earned the respect they deserved.  People cared about their neighbors and were hungry for news. As time went by, newspaper subscriptions were a great need in the community.

My late mother-in-law, Veta Jennings, was a correspondent for The Neosho Daily Democrat in 1949 during her senior year at Neosho High School in Neosho, Missouri. She wrote news for the Schmolke Hill Community located north of Neosho. She told us she received a “little bit” of money for each column she wrote. When I asked her what a “little bit” was, she said it was fifty cents.

Veta’s columns are preserved on microfilm at our Neosho, Missouri library and I printed them for her before she passed away. From one of her columns, we learned that in July 1949, her parents, Lawrence and Neoma Fikes, bought a new car. In another column, she told of going to a Saturday night movie in Neosho with her future husband, Leroy Jennings, and a pal of theirs. That added interesting details to our growing Jennings family tree!

Many of the old-time country correspondents wrote weekly columns about their community for 20 years or more.  I have found much of my family information recorded in the Neosho Newspapers on microfilm. James Reed’s transcriptions from his inherited Pineville, Missouri, newspapers are another source where I have found bits and pieces of family information to add to my Utter family history.   

When I search the newspapers on microfilm, I always look for news from Rocky Comfort, Missouri. It is there that I have found social history about my late grandfather, Perry Utter. From the newspapers, I have learned that Perry was involved in the Masonic Lodge at Wheaton Missouri, he led the Methodist Men’s Club at Rocky Comfort Missouri Methodist Church, and he coached his sons’ softball teams when they were on town teams.

I also learned that my great, grandmother, Ollie Brier of Rocky Comfort, sold parakeets for one dollar each and during the summer of 1957, she and her husband, Bill Brier, bought a new yellow Plymouth sedan vehicle. There is so much more that I have learned about my families, all because the country correspondents reported the news of the day.

Of course, using the newspapers on microfilm does eat up time. I have spent hours reading and searching. If you use the newspapers on microfilm, gather a notebook and pen or pencil and have dates available so you can go to that particular date in the newspaper and begin your search, rather than having to search the entire paper. 

As the newspaper industry has advanced, today’s editors differ in opinion about country correspondents.  Remember to search the old newspapers on microfilm for country correspondents’ news of the day when you want to add meat to the bones of your family history. I am thankful to the men and women who reported the news in the little towns of our country.