Andrew Talkov, senior director of curatorial affairs at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, offers a glimpse into an unassuming treasure chest. It is, from the outside, unremarkable. With a ...

While the chests lost popularity over the years, they were produced until 2001. Recently, I asked a baby-boomer friend, Lorraine Klein, if she had filled a hope chest.

In earlier centuries, every bride was expected to have a hope chest or dower chest. Girls living before 1900 were expected to start weaving and sewing sheets, towels, tablecloths, lace, quilts and … ...