Young Blonde Girl Strips Her Dress In The Green Studio With A Cedar Chest And Pillows

“The gift that starts the home.” —Lane Cedar Chest co., advertising material
As the contents of such a chest would primarily be linens, construction in moth-repellent cedar, or at least a cedar lining, was popular. The Lane Company of Altavista, VA (1912, closed 2001) were a notable maker of cedar chests. After developing production-line techniques for making ammunition boxes during World War One, they turned these production techniques and a patent locking-mitre corner joint, into vast numbers of chests. This was aided by strong advertising, using a teenaged Shirley Temple as a model, in a campaign targeted at GIs and absentee sweethearts of World War Two. They were particularly well-known for their practice (since 1930) of distributing miniature (12" long) cedar chests to high-school girls as advertising gifts. The Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) is the "cedar" used in making moth-repelling cedar chests and drawers, as well as pencils.
• Decoration
Decoration is not an intrinsic part of the hope chest, but often appears.