Thursday, April 24, 2014

Hitty Doll & Book "Hitty: Her First Hundred Years"

Have you ever heard of a Hitty Doll?  I hadn't, until recently...

While researching dolls online, I ran across the name Hitty. My curiosity was peaked and I started researching Hitty dolls. Sometimes you just have to chase a rabbit or two, because you never know what treasure you might find. :)  I found out that the original Hitty doll was the main character of a book called Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. The book was actually written in 1929 by Rachel Field, and illustrated by Dorothy Lathrop, and it is still being published today.  In 1930, the book won the John Newberry Medal for the "most distinguished contribution to American Literature for Children".  Rachel Field was the first woman to ever win the Newberry Medal.

Rachel Field wrote the book about an actual doll she and her friend Dorothy Lathrop purchased together in an antique store in the 1920's, when Mehitable, nicknamed Hitty, was already over 100 years old. Wait... this book is about a one hundred year old doll's life, before being purchased in an antique store... no question, I HAD to read it! I found a copy on the Newberry shelf at my local library, and started reading it with my girls.

Our Library Book

The book is written as if Hitty were writing her memoirs, so Hitty is telling the story of her life and adventures as a little wooden doll. The book is a wonderful read for both young and old alike. If you like dolls, you will love this book. I am ordering my own copy to keep, because I want to be able to read it again and again, and I want to read it to my grandchildren someday when I have some! With four kids between the ages of 8 and 24, it's only a matter of time hopefully, right?

The book has 17 chapters with 207 pages.  The illustrations by Dorothy Lathrop sprinkled throught the pages are just precious!

Hitty in the woods.

Hitty at her writing desk.

Hitty with her trunk.

I also found a dollhouse scale verson of the Hitty book, and since I'm working on a dollhouse, I had to have that version too. It is a pre-printed kit, and I'm really looking forward to putting it together when it arrives. You can see the miniature Hitty book kit at PaperMinis.com.

The original Hitty doll is a 6.25" tall peg-jointed wooden doll, who was carved from White Mountain Ash wood.  No one knows who the wood carver was who actually carved her in the 1800's. After Rachel Field and Dorothy Lathrop purchased the original Hitty doll in an antique store in the 1920's, she lived part of the time with the author Rachel Field in California and part time with the illustrator Dorothy Lathrop in New York. When Rachel Field passed away in 1942, Hitty stayed with the illustrator, Dorothy Lathrop in Albany, NY. When Dorothy Lathrop passed away in 1988, her family donated Hitty to the Stockbridge Library Museum in Stockbridge, MA, where Rachel Field was originally from. If you are ever in Massachusetts, you can actually visit the original Hitty doll in person at the Library.

Once I started reading the Hitty book, and researching Hitty online, I just fell in love and wanted my own Hitty doll. But where does one get a Hitty doll?  Hitty dolls are actually still being made today by various artists in a variety of different mediums including wood, resin, cloth, clay and more.  Check out Pinterest to see some of the variety of different Hitty dolls being made by artists.

I'm happy to announce that I am excitedly awaiting the arrival of my Hitty.  She is a hand carved wooden, jointed Hitty by Robert Raikes. She's not new, but that's ok, neither was the original Hitty. From what I've read online, Robert Raikes made Hitty dolls in 2002 and in 2005. I found her online, and she should arrive next week. Until then, I just have her picture, so here she is:


Have you ever read Hitty: Her First Hundred Years? I would definitely recommend reading this lovely book. Check it out at your local library. Libraries usually stock all of the Newberry Award winning books, so they should have a copy on the Newberry shelf. Or look inside Hitty: Her First Hundred Years on Amazon. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book and Hitty dolls.

10 comments:

  1. Oh Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I am going to look for this at my local library. It sounds like something I can read with my daughter. She is 6. Who knows maybe my boys would enjoy the story as well.

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    1. Hi Laura! I think you and your kids will all enjoy reading this book! Hitty's owner, Phoebe's father is a sea captain and I believe some of the adventures may be on a ship at sea (we haven't finished the book yet). The boys are sure to love the stories just as much as your daughter. I'd love to hear what y'all think of it.
      Hugs,
      Lisa

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  2. How ironic that I stumbled onto this blog tonight! I am a Hitty collector and carver. Welcome to the addiction (it is said - and I have seen it is true - no one can own only one Hitty - they're very social and good at drawing in friends). she will also enjoy the little 5.5" BJDs from Tuesday Morning ( how I found your blog - saw the in the store today and decided to google them)

    Laura, your boys should certainly enjoy this book. Hitty goes on many round the world adventures that would appeal to boys every bit as much as girls - and some more so. There are actually two Hitty books. The second one was written by Rosemary Wells. It is said ( never confirmed so far as I know) that this was meant to be an updated version, with anything that children today might be out of touch with or some might find offensive scrubbed out of it. I'm usually the first person to defend original versions (my own children were raised on classics - including ones written in Middle English), but IMO the Wells book is every bit as good, if not better written, as the original. And all the adventures are different, so it's almost as if the book is twice as long.

    Another book I'd never have thought would appeal to a boy that my son loved was Heidi. After seeing how much he liked it, I realised that Heidi is virtually the only female in the book. Most of the characters are male,and again - plenty of adventures that are not girl-centric.

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    1. Laurel, I am so excited to meet another Hitty collector! And you carve your own Hitty dolls too? WOW! I would love to see some of your dolls!!! Do you have a Flickr or any pictures of them online? It's so neat that a Google search for Tuesday Morning's BJD's brought a Hitty collector to my blog on a day when I posted my first blog post about Hitty.

      So, no one can own just one Hitty? I can see why. She is so adorable, and there are so many artists and so many different styles. I read that some people name thier Hitty dolls by giving each one a different middle name, like Hitty Rose or Hitty Belle. I love that. I would love to find a smaller Hitty doll, maybe 4", that might fit better in my dollhouse. I'd also like a very tiny "doll's doll size" Hitty, maybe 1" tall.

      While searching for the Hitty book on Amazon, I found some other Hitty books by the author Jody Provost. These books appear to be only available in Kindle format, but I downloaded a sample of "Hitty and Her Next Hundred Years". It is written in the same style as Rachel Field's book, and picks up where it left off, with Hitty being purchased at the antique store in the 1920's and what happens after she leaves there. I read the first 3 chapters of the sample and loved it!

      There are also three other Kindle edition Hitty books by Jody Provost available on Amazon for just 99 cents each. They are "Hitty's Spring Full of Fun", "Summertime Hitty Beach Party", and "Hitty and the Halloween Pumpkin Patch Hunt". These appear to be more modern day stories featuring different Hittys who live in Hittytown. They all have different second names (Hitty Maria, Hitty Diana). These look like fun books too.
      Have you read any of Jody Provost's Hitty books?
      Hugs,
      Lisa


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  3. As much as I love dolls and books, that's the type of children's book I would buy for the illustrations alone. :)
    Thanks for sharing your wonderful find, your enthusiasm for the book & doll shines in your post.
    Cheers,
    X

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    1. You are right Xanadu! The illustrations in the book are awesome. I just love the artwork so much that I was thinking about copying some of them from the book for framing or using in other craft projects. My daughters want to photocopy them so they can trace and color the pictures.

      I thought it was neat that there was a regular table of contents page that lists the title of each chapter, and then a separate "illustrations" contents page that lists the title of each illustration and what page to find it on.

      If you get the book, I'd love to hear what you think! :)
      Hugs,
      Lisa






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  4. Lovely.Lovely.
    :0)
    Eliane
    http://elianeapkroker.blogspot.com.br/

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  5. What a fun new thing to learn about? Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thank you Melody! My Hitty doll arrived, and I'm working on a post all about her now. :)
      Hugs,
      Lisa

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