Cedar Chests
The chest, or coffer, has had a varied existence. Its present
popularity was preceded by a period in which new chests were a rarity.
Previous to this time—taking us back to our great-grandmothers’
days—the chest, in the form of the “dower chest,” was the proud
possession of every girl with vision. Why its popularity suffered is
hard to surmise, unless it was relegated as being “old-fashioned,” and,
therefore, obsolete. In recent years those in society who make things
fashionable have restored it to its place of usefulness and beauty, and
today there are very few girls whose possessions do not include a chest.
OLD ITALIAN CHESTS
Long before the era of convenient furniture, chests, or coffers, were
the one article of utility in every home. In them was kept clothing,
valuables of every description, and even food-stuffs.
In early days, these chests were crude, ugly affairs, made for utility
alone. Later, especially in Italy, they developed into articles of
beauty.
This development reached its height at the time of the Renaissance when
the greatest artists of the day took up the decorating of them. Carving
and painting, furnished to the wealthy at great expense, produced
articles whose magnificence is astounding. These beautiful chests were
usually presented to Italian “brides-to-be,” who kept their dowry of
rich velvets, magnificent brocade, and other treasures of maidenhood
safely under their covers.
With the ever-changing ideas of humanity, the beautiful chest lost
its popularity, and some wonderful specimens of Renaissance artistry
were relegated to the scrap heap. A few were saved—perhaps for the
associations they suggested—eventually to be prized and handed down
from generation to generation, preserved in the national museums, or
homes where wealth permits the collection of old furniture.
NEW ENGLAND CHESTS
In quaint old New England, the seventeenth century bride considered
her future happiness to depend largely upon the contents of her “dower
chest.” Every maid had one—sometimes more than one—in which she
assiduously collected her trousseau—her beautiful handmade linens, her
gorgeous silks and satins, preparatory to the day of her ascension into
home-making.
Nothing, perhaps, in her interesting life could she recall, in later
days, as vividly as her old dower chest, and nothing, perhaps, did she
prize as highly.
In those days few chests were made of cedar—oak being the wood
preferred. Using the chests, as did the old-time bride, merely to
assemble her trousseau, its storage properties were not considered as
they are today.
PRESENT DAY DEVELOPMENT
Why the chest lost its popularity is hard to determine. It may be that
moths, developing in the oak chest and devouring its contents, were a
determining factor, or it may be simply a passing whim of society that
relegated the chest. When red cedar came into favor as the universal
chest material, repelling moths and other insects, and permitting of
most beautiful finishes, the chest returned to its own.
The present-day mother—the far-sighted mother—is instilling the
dower chest notion into the hearts of her children as did her
great-grandmother years ago. It is not a sentimental whim which prompts
her to do this, it is strictly a utilitarian one.
Girls, the majority at least, will some day marry. If they have a chest
they will sew and save to fill it, if not, they may come to the altar
unprepared, or purchase at one time those things that their own labor
and years of association should endear to them. Even if they never
marry, bachelor girls must clothe themselves, and some even fit up
small apartments in which to live, hence this saving will not be a loss.
Cedar chests may be purchased ready made, of course, but their rather
high price prohibits their possession by some. Manual training students
or home craftsmen will find in the chest a most attractive project of
construction, and one made by a boy as a present to an older sister
will give the chest, in her sight, an added charm.