Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
"Hitty, Her First Hundred Years" by Rachel Field is a unique children's novel narrated from the perspective of a doll named Hitty, who recounts her adventures over a century. The story begins with Hitty's origin as a wooden doll carved by an Old Peddler for a girl named Phoebe Preble in Maine. As Hitty travels through various owners and experiences, she offers insights into the lives of those around her and the historical contexts they inhabit, from whaling expeditions to life with a Quaker family during the Civil War.
Throughout her journey, Hitty is lost and found multiple times, encountering diverse cultures and notable figures, including Charles Dickens. The narrative is rich in detail, reflecting not only Hitty's adventures but also the societal norms and events of the times. The book is notable for being the first work authored by a woman to receive the Newbery Award, highlighting Field's ability to imbue the doll with a dynamic personality and relatable emotions. The collaboration with illustrator Dorothy Lathrop further enhances the storytelling, bringing Hitty's experiences vividly to life. Overall, "Hitty, Her First Hundred Years" explores themes of belonging, identity, and the passage of time through the eyes of an endearing and timeless character.
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
First published: 1929; illustrated
Type of work: Historical fiction
Themes: Family, friendship, and travel
Time of work: The early nineteenth century
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: The United States
Principal Characters:
Hitty , a hand-carved doll made of mountain ashPhoebe Preble , a young girl, Hitty’s original ownerMrs. Preble , Phoebe’s mother, a kind and religious womanCaptain Preble , Phoebe’s father, whose whaling ship, the Diana-Kate, becomes home for the entire familyTheobold , a prowlishly inclined cat from the antique shopLittle Thankful , a girl who lives in India and travels with Hitty to PhiladelphiaClarissa Pryce , a Quaker girl who finds HittyIsabella Van Rensselaer , a young girl who lives in New York City, Hitty’s fourth ownerKatie , a young Irish girl from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, who loses Hitty in a hayloftMr. Farley , an artist who paints Hitty’s picture and takes her to New OrleansAnnette and Hortense Larraby , two elderly sisters who offer to dress Hitty as a bride and loan her to the Cotton Exposition during Mardi GrasSally Loomis , a young girl who steals Hitty from the showcase and sets her afloat in a sweet-grass basketMiss Hope , who discovers that Hitty is the missing doll from the exposition and arranges for her return to the Larraby sistersMiss Hunter , the proprietress of an antique shop in New York City
The Story
Written in the first person, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years is the thoughtful recounting of a doll’s one hundred years. Using a style akin to that of a journal or diary, Hitty begins writing her memoirs and uses the time spent with each of her owners and her relationship with them as a framework.
Hitty begins her life with the Preble family in Maine in the dead of winter. Carved by the Old Peddler out of a small piece of mountain-ash wood, Hitty is presented to Phoebe Preble. The first order of business is to clothe the doll properly. Stitching “H-I-T-T-Y” into the doll’s chemise becomes Phoebe’s task. Christened Mehitabel, Hitty spends time with the Preble family in church, at home, and on outings; her first adventure is being left overnight in a church pew. Once spring arrives, Hitty is accidentally left outside and carried away by a crow. She lands in the bird’s nest among several baby birds but is rescued once again by Phoebe’s family.
When Captain Preble arrives home one day and announces that he is taking his family on his next whaling expedition out of Nantucket, Hitty’s more precarious adventures begin. Packed along with the other family necessities, Hitty describes the ship and crew with explicit detail. After a particularly bad storm at sea, the Diana-Kate springs a leak but is successfully repaired. The hunting and capturing of a whale are given careful attention in Hitty’s comments. One evening, around midnight, the ship catches fire, and the family finds its way to an island inhabited by natives.
During her stay on the island, Hitty is revered as an icon. One of the ship’s mates, however, steals her back, and the family and remaining crew are able to leave by boat. Eventually they are rescued by a sailing ship, the Hesper, and make their way to India. Hitty is lost in a busy street bazaar in Bombay. A missionary couple finds her and takes Hitty home to their daughter, Little Thankful. One of Hitty’s most exciting moments comes when she encounters a cobra. When Little Thankful is sent home to attend school in the United States, she and Hitty make the long voyage together.
Living in a Philadelphia household with Little Thankful and her grandparents, Hitty tells of her experiences and surroundings. While playing at a friend’s one day, Little Thankful stuffs Hitty into the corner of a sofa and forgets her. Not until some years later is Hitty rescued by a Quaker family; she is then cared for by Clarissa Pryce. Hitty describes the customs of plain dress and plain speech of the Quaker family and is herself dressed in pearl gray, complete with a Quaker bonnet. During her time with the Pryce family, Hitty has the opportunity to attend a stage performance and have her daguerreotype taken. She also meets John Greenleaf Whittier, who composes a short poem for her. As the Quakers discuss their feelings about sending men off to fight in the Civil War, Hitty reports on the emotions of the times and others.
After a stint of being packed away with camphor balls, the doll is discovered by a dressmaker who is looking for some lace. Hitty finds herself transported to Washington Square in New York, to the home of the Van Rensselaer family. She describes her new society life in detail. While out for a walk one evening, her new owner, Isabella Van Rensselaer, accidentally drops Hitty on the sidewalk, and she is rescued by Charles Dickens. On New Year’s Eve, Hitty is stolen from Isabella by a gang of boys and taken to a farm in Pawtucket. There she is lost in a hayloft for a number of years; eventually she is cared for by a traveling artist. Traveling by paddleboat, she and the artist, Mr. Farley, go down the Mississippi River and meet two elderly sisters in the French Quarter.
When the sisters, Miss Annette and Miss Hortense Larraby, first see Hitty, they are immediately charmed; they decide to dress her in wedding finery and loan her to the Cotton Exhibition during Mardi Gras. Hitty writes of the exhibition as one of her finest moments, a high point that ends when she is stolen by a young girl and stashed away on a riverboat. After moments of guilt, Sally decides to return the doll and sets her afloat in a sweet-grass basket. Two boys, fishing on the bank, find Hitty, and eventually she is returned to the Larraby sisters.
Packed away after the Larraby sisters are gone, Hitty finds herself returned to Maine. Although she has had many owners and sets of clothes, her original chemise with the name H-I-T-T-Y still remains intact. Another Old Peddler attends an auction and is charmed into buying Hitty. The doll then finds her way to an antique shop on Eighth Street in New York City. She comes to rest in the shop window on a small wooden bench, with a tiny slip of paper bearing “Hitty” in Spenserian handwriting as her identification. As Hitty concludes her memoirs, she describes her very contented days in the antique shop, but looks out the window in great anticipation of more adventures to come.
Context
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years was the first book authored by a woman to win the Newbery award. “Rachel Field in writing Hitty’s story has surpassed anything she has done,” notes reviewer Josiah Titzell. Pocket-Handkerchief Park (1929) and God’s Pocket: The Story of Captain Samuel Hadlock, Junior, of the Cranberry Isles, Maine (1934), other works by Field of similar length, do not show the same amount of character development or sense of historical nostalgia as does Hitty, Her First Hundred Years.
Critics have commented on the unusual coming-together of author, illustrator, and doll for this story. Illustrator Dorothy Lathrop and writer Field found the real “Hitty” in an antique shop and developed the concept of having a doll serve as the protagonist. “As a joint production the book is unsurpassed, nor could its production be better,” noted M. W. Bianco. Field worked to develop a styled speech pattern for the doll, while Lathrop, later to win a Caldecott Medal for Animals of the Bible, used ingenuity and imagination to incorporate variation in movement and convey emotions in Hitty’s wooden face. In writing Hitty, Her First Hundred Years Field created a thoroughly original work. She invested her antique-doll character with a personality showing many dimensions and insights. She was able to capture the feelings many children have about their toys in investing them with human qualities and yet to establish this spirit of animation through the fictional character of Hitty.