Trousseau?
Once upon a time, many moons ago, a young lady who was courting might turn her thoughts to assembling her trousseau. Trousseau derives from the French trousse, which means a bundle
A collection of linen, household goods, clothing and valuables like jewellery or silver would be stored in a ‘bottom drawer’ in the UK (a hope chest in USA or glory box in Australia.) It was the equivalent in some ways of a dowry, an indication of how much material wealth a woman would bring to a marriage – the richer the bride’s family, the more valuable the contents of the trousseau.
The custom persisted until the middle of the twentieth century, when it had evolved from dowry-like contents to items suitable for setting up home with the lucky suitor.
Anyway, what brought this to mind was the bottom drawer in the chest of drawers in my bedroom. It is the place where odd socks go to hibernate. When a pair of socks is called for because the housekeeper hasn’t performed her duties efficiently and there are no longer any matched socks left in the Master’s top drawer, it is to the bottom drawer one hastens. Surely there must be a pair there?
Depending on who is conducting the search, singles may find their appropriate partners, or be approximately paired with something similar. That is, if I am looking, the married pairs will match exactly. If Barry is searching, ‘They’ll do,’ he’ll say as two mismatched socks are thrust together. That drives me mad. I know it doesn’t matter, ‘Who cares? Who’s looking?’ but it matters to me and that is why my bottom drawer is full of odd socks. They’re not mine – I don’t wear socks.
The funny thing is that people can now buy deliberately mismatched socks, if they feel so inclined. They do look as though they belong together, strangely, unlike the pairs concocted from my bottom drawer.
Mismatched socks are a symbol for World Down Syndrome Day, on 21st March. They represent the third copy of chromosome 21 which those with Down’s Syndrome possess.
Trousseau has two other meanings, one medical (Trousseau’s sign) and one connected with wine, where it refers to a red wine grape, also known as Bastardo or Merenzao.
We took a Lane Cedar Chest from an old house up to Katie, for her hope chest. It is still a custom for the Amish.
ReplyDeleteI always think of little kids who are dressing and have trouble with socks.
ReplyDeleteI love that word. I used to think about what I would put in my trousseau.
ReplyDeleteOdd socks. I swear my washing machine eats one of them every time I put a week worth in!
Do you find socks uncomfortable to wear?
ReplyDeleteI've always been in charge and lost socks don't happen under my watch, let alone mismatched socks.
ReplyDeleteHere, and no doubt there is a connection, a glory box could also be a piece of furniture, perhaps best described as glass cabinet for displaying the good china etc. If it was half glass, the lower cupboards might have other items that make up a bride's glory box.
Odd socks? Not in my house.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have much in my "glory box" which was a shelf in one of mum's cabinets, but I do remember a set of saucepans, one of which I still have today, a set of wooden-handled kitchen knives, and about a dozen tea towels (dish towels). A friend I worked with had a much more extensive trousseau, she began working at age 15 and by the time she married at 19, had acquired everything a person would need in a home of her own including rolls of toilet paper, and baby things. One entire room of her parents home held this bounty.
A lovely read and it did make me smile. We have a mismatched draw too. Where do all those socks disappear to? I think there is a little beastie inside the washing machine that gobbles them up!
ReplyDelete'drawer' ;)
DeleteI suppose at a time when young women married a few years after finishing school, and may have worked in an office until finding the love of their lives, savings were non existent. If both the young couple reach their wedding ceremony with just clothes, books and a computer, the trousseau will be empty.
ReplyDeleteThankfully our wedding guests gave us crockery, cutlery and linen.
Wedding presents I supposed replaced the gathering of things together for the bottom drawer. Today rather than us choosing gifts from a long list of wedding presents, the married couple probably prefers money.
ReplyDeleteI recently read somewhere about a man who buys twenty or so pairs of identical socks at a time so that he never needs to worry about "odd socks". When they wear out he replaces them with another batch of identical socks.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, never in my life (so far) have I had single socks. Not once in what must have been thousands of cycles in the washing machine have I lost a sock to the parallel universe. Therefore, the socks and tights drawer in the chest of drawers in my bedroom contains just what I actually wear.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you wear on your feet then, instead of socks?
I didn‘t know that mismatched socks are a symbol for Down Syndrome.
When I turned 14, my godmother and other people gave me boring presents such as towels and tablecloths - all in view of a future household of my own. Well, I was 14, it was the year 1982, and I would have much preferred money or books. It wasn‘t until I was 21 that I moved out of my parents‘ house.