handbasket portion

plural handbasket portions

1. obsoleteGifts or support provided to a woman’s husband by her father or family;First known use late 18ᵗʰ to mid-19ᵗʰ century.

   1 more example

   They have a common saying in the Wild of Kent, when the daughter of an old farmer is married.— If it be enquired what portion the old man gave her, and the answer is, that “he gave not much money; yet,” say they, “the old people are always sending them something—there is always something to send from a farm-house,”—Then the answer generally is, “Aye, her’s is a hand-basket portion, and that is generally the best; for there is no end to that.”

   1784, William Huntington, God, the Poor Man’s Guardian, and the Bank of Faith, page 98