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.
