Week of February 5, 2007

Chapter One: In Which I Begin My Memoirs:

General Thoughts:

I am amazed at the things I'd forgotten. I thought it was pretty much just about her being carved, but there is so much more detail in this chapter. We find out where she is 'now' (which is great--no worrying about her in the book because she does--as I often tell my kids when they are complaining about something--'live to tell the tale'.)

None of us has a problem imagining that a wooden doll can sit in an antique store and write her memoirs. On page 1 we are drawn into the antique shop with greatly detailed descriptions of Hitty's surroundings. Then Rachel tantalizes us with bits of Hitty's history that we will learn
about later in the book.

On page 3 Hitty talks about being lucky because she is made of mountain ash wood. Then on page 11, Clump! Clump! Clump! And Hitty shows us that she is magical, because how else would a wooden doll be able to move her legs and make a noise loud enough to scare the church sexton? All this in just Chapter 1!

Rachel must have written many of the details from her life experiences. She loved music boxes (see page 2), and one of her friends arranged for a New York street organ-grinder to play outside the church where Rachel was married.

Two of Hitty's future owners, Isabella and Clarissa, are undoubtedly named for Rachel's grandmothers, Isabella McWilliams and Clarissa Laflin.

My other favorite part of this chapter was when Clarissa was writing her "mottos" in her "exercise book".

Hitty's story is a nostalgic look at yesteryear--A time when Mrs. Hunter is described as having "queer ways" and Phoebe is "gay and friendly". We can't go back to that time--but we can enjoy today.

I think that is what Hitty is trying to tell us. Remember the good times of the past but appreciate the adventures of today.

Based on my own research (partly from these websites), I have concluded that the real Hitty is German and was about 40 years old when found. She could be less old, as she has much in common with my Schoenhut circus figures. Everything about her is German, from her carving style, to the red stripe on her socks, to her handmade pillow lace to the red cross stitched Hitty that may only be in the book (does she really have such a chemise?).

Timing of Hitty:

I am absolutely positive Field fudged the dates. Mostly, to make it a more interesting story. I don't think the Real Hitty is as old as the 'book' Hitty. She wanted it to be one hundred years, so she went back one hundred years (about) from the time she wrote the book.

I've always thought that Rachel Field chose that year because she wanted the story to be about Hitty's first "hundred" years, with one hundred being a nice round number, as it were. She and Dorothy found the doll in the antique store sometime in the late 1920's? It must have been, since the book was published in 1929. So, I think it was artistic license on her (their?) part, since they didn't know how old Hitty actually was.

Location of Preble Home:

How do we know the Preble house is on an island? Capt. Preble drove "over" in a gig from Portland. I suppose there might have been some sort of ferry, even way back then. I've been searching for clues pointing to the location of the house.

The house where the Hitty book was plotted and probably partially written was Rachel's family's home on Great Cranberry Island. I don't think the book was meant to be set there (for the reasons you mention), but it's easy to be confused with all the comings and goings these days - visiting Hitty and her locations.

I think in the book the house was on the mainland as the children walked to the back cove and could see Cow Island. I being from the area, Portland and near Great Cranberry Island, have been able to travel around to visit many of the places mentioned in the book. The real life Preble house that Rachel used as the model for the home in the book is on an island. The fictional house/setting in the book is on the mainland.

Rachel's summer home was on Sutton Island. I found a copy of the deed when Rachel bought it.

Reasons for Peddler Staying at Preble Home:

Mrs. Preble was a sea captain's wife, so she would have been near or at the top of their island society. Eyes would be on her and tongues ready to wag should she or Phoebe stray from their expected behavior. They would have to be model citizens, I would think. (I have wondered that she invited the peddler to stay with them in her husband's absence.)

I, too, was wondering about the Peddler staying in a house where the husband was gone for months. It was common for people of some trades to move into a house for long periods--think shoemakers, tailors, and artists--to perform tasks for the family and perhaps neighbors as well, but the Preble situation does seem a little odd. Or maybe it's just that I'm looking at it through 21st century glasses. Maybe there was an outbuilding where the Peddler stayed.

I think it was a common practice to take in anyone caught as winter storms came on. Travel was difficult if not deadly in those situations. It is likely that Andy and the peddler shared a bed probably in the loft.

As I understood it, the Captain was unexpectedly unable to return and the Peddler was more or less stranded, so room and board in exchange for taking on some of the chores that the other household members couldn't physically do was probably a good deal for everyone involved. Also the Peddler did leave as soon as the weather improved, just missing the Captain who came home at that point also.

The story mentions he was caught by surprise by the storm. He wouldn't have been able to leave the island either. I remember Sue saying that the trip to Cranberry Isle is not nearly as frequent in the winter months. Since the peddler was stuck for the winter, he may have had more time to devote to his carving than he would normally have enjoyed, tramping about, selling his wares. It may also be that the Prebles, enjoying a more comfortable lifestyle, had the additional room to put him up.

Peddler/Reasons for Carving Hitty:

Phoebe was such an adorable, outgoing little 7-year old that the Old Peddler wanted to do something special for her. Besides, what else was there for him to do in the evenings after chores were done? Maybe he felt sorry that she didn't have a little dolly to play with.

Apparently, the peddler finally got some time to use his wood and was grateful to the family for taking him in. We often give what we have, and that is what he had.

Maybe Phoebe had these big eyes and he just felt a compassion for her and knew this would be a special gift for her

As one who loves to carve, I think the peddler saw one of those magnificent opportunities. That's when you imagine just the perfect sort of gift for someone you hold very special, and you have the chance to actually provide that special gift.

Maybe the Old Peddler saw that Phoebe was being raised with a very firm hand (Mrs. Preble called it raising her properly and not spoiling her) and he wanted to give her a toy to have some fun with.

Mrs. Preble struck me as being all authority and no warmth. Little to no interest in or understanding of what a child needs. The Old Peddler might well have taken pity on her for having to live with such a lack of maternity.

I think he was charmed by Phoebe. Maybe if he was getting old he worried that his piece of wood would be discarded. As a doll it would be treasured. Carving it into a doll gave him a kind of immortality that only craftsmen really understand.

In that time, most everyone created tangible goods. Phoebe had the clothes for Hitty and her sampler. Mrs. Preble made all the food, and probably at least some of the clothes, maybe the candles, and we know she made preserves. I expect the peddler wanted something to do during the winter nights, too.

I’m thinking he saw an immediate need to carve a doll for Phoebe, but had no cured wood on hand other than this piece, and after all, if he’d had it for some time, perhaps he felt the time was right to use it and find another. Luck is always best when you spread it around, and I agree that Phoebe may have needed it. Perhaps she missed her father and glommed onto him as a father figure? He probably didn’t use his entire lucky piece anyway. If it was an ax handle as has been supposed, then he’d still have a good bit left.

Phoebe seems a very nice child. Perhaps he came to be very fond of her! I like her bit of naughtiness. I am afraid I always enjoy that in a child as long as they aren't mean!

It also mentioned that he created a "pleasant expression" on his doll.

I keep thinking back to the old Peddler turning her this way and that in the firelight to dry. Why do you think he took his lucky piece of wood he'd carried all the way from Ireland and on all of his selling journeys, and made a doll to give away? (Oh! And of course, this probably means he is Irish. How else would he have been in Ireland to start with?) I'm sure he felt indebted to Mrs. Preble for taking him in, but surely he did enough chores to 'pay' for his room and board. I
wonder if he just felt sorry for Phoebe.

I agree that it makes sense he would be Irish, given the fact that he had been there, and it’s not a passing through kind of place, but an island. The Irish had a particularly tough time when they got here, so for one to be an itinerant worker also makes sense. However, the Irish immigration really began during the potato famine of 1845 – 1849. That is later than the supposed date Hitty was made, but I’ve never understood 1830 anyway. I think the mid to late 1840’s is closer to what is most likely. How was 1830 arrived at in the first place? Is it possible Rachel Field fudged the date a little to suit the story? This is different from fudging about the wood as Erin suggested. This would be artistic license.

Now being an Irish Peddler, he was inspired to carve the Hitty doll for Phoebe and all the big and little girls she would charm by the little people (leprechauns].

Peddler’s Wood:

I like the idea he decided to use his lucky wood, and not a piece of stove wood or something, which would have certainly been available.

Perhaps Rachel talked about the wood that Hitty was carved from as being lucky as a foretelling of all the things Hitty would go through and be able to write about after 100 years - and the luck continues when you look where Hitty is now and the joy and happiness she has brought to so many of us. That was some magic wood.

Maybe the peddler was really a woman. A woman would TOTALLY part with her special wood to make a gift for a child.

Perhaps he didn't give up all of his special wood. Hitty is so small, after all, perhaps he only used a bit of it to make the doll. I do hate to think of the Hitty father as being without his lucky wood, all alone out in the world.

If we go strictly by the story, Original Hitty is so small; it makes me wonder why? If she was meant to be a copy of a china doll, wouldn't she have been bigger? (She would have been so much easier to dress if she was bigger, but her tiny size is so appealing!) I think her size is a result of the size of the piece of wood. I can get a Hitty from a 4" x 2" x 2" bit of wood. Rachel must have thought about the space a piece of wood would take for it to be practical to bring it from across the sea. And the peddler carried his wares in a pack on his back, so he wouldn't be carrying large bits of wood that he would be unlikely to sell. Firewood would be dry and very available.

China head dolls were made in all sizes from about 2 1/2" tall up to about 36" tall and as either whole dolls or porcelain parts with the body to be made at home. I have some China heads of the size of Hitty. If Ancestor Hitty was 6 1/4" in the book, it was only because she was 6 1/4" in real life. Remember, Hitty was sitting there as Rachael "wrote."

We all know that Hitty did the writing and Rachel was only her literary agent! Wooden dolls were very popular from well before the turn of the century (1800) until they were replaced -- by those who could afford to buy at least the porcelain parts of china heads -- in the mid-1800's. Actually, the woodies were carved by poor parents clear through the Depression. Styles varied, but one carved as best one could.

I can believe that Ancestor Hitty could have been carved back when she said she was, in the 1820's. Little girls had simple hairdos, and Hitty's hair style was not only easier to carve than adult styles, but was much like an ordinary little-girl style of the period. The Old Peddler was carving a doll for a child, so why should it not look like a little girl?

There are a couple of mentions about how small the piece of mountain ash was, and how clever the Old Peddler was to have made an entire doll out of it. Have you seen the TV ad about how giving away some part of yourself comes around and you get something back? I think that applies to the Old Peddler--he gave away what was perhaps his most valuable item, so let's try to think of him getting more luck back after he left the Preble home!

It occurs to me that perhaps he didn't give up all of his special wood. Hitty is so small, after all, perhaps he only used a bit of it to make the doll. I hate to think of the Hitty father as being without his lucky wood, all alone out in the world.

I come from Irish immigrant stock (arrived before the famine, even as the Old Peddler in Hitty), and I just realized that another noun for Irish mountain ash is ROWAN! The sacred rowan, protector in all those myths and folktales! Talk about powerful protection! Perhaps the peddler was foresighted and could see where Phoebe would go in the future?

Paint Used On Hitty:

I am very curious what kind of paint he had. Wasn't oil paints as they wouldn't dry overnight.

Ha! Never thought, but where did he get the paints???

As one of my writing professors said "Never let reality get in the way of a good story!"

I believe that Hitty is painted in oil, and was not the carver’s first human form. It was popular then to carve all kinds of figures, and she may have been his first doll, but I think he did quite a lot of carving before. Painting too, no doubt, and with a brush he made himself from clipping a little cat’s hair, or some such.

Unless this was an artist’s home, I doubt that they used anything but what was used in the home for paint. He was a guest in their house so I don't think he carried paints around with him.
I wonder where the real Hitty maker got skin tone paint. It seems an odd color to have lying around.

They used milk based paints and often tinted with blood for color and inks. Most country households up until the middle of the last century made almost everything they used, including dyes and paints. They used vegetable skins, nut shells, clay soil, and other natural pigments to color their dyes and paints.

Everything people had was made from what was on hand, and they planned and saved and traded to make sure they had what was needed. Black walnut husks are a great source for tannin!

Many Indian s (Native Americans) used paints. Perhaps the peddler had some of these that he had traded with the Indians for.

Hitty's paint must have dried more quickly because the peddler was turning her before the fire and then set her on the mantle which was also one of the warmest, driest places in the house.

I have seen white paint made from lead. If there were red barn paint, mixing a lot of the white in would give a flesh tone and the straight barn paint would do her lips. I don't know what makes paint black and the blue has me very curious. What ever its composition, it sure was durable!

It’s the pigment that interests me. The skin tone may have been something like black walnut husks, but some colors are harder to come by – that blue in her eyes might have come from stone like lapis that was finely ground, for example. I don’t know what would easily have been found in that color. Not even blueberries, although a small amount mixed with something else? So little was needed however that the maker might have been able to acquire it from someone who painted furniture, perhaps in trade for wood working, if the maker wasn’t set up for that himself.

I think the fact that her face was painted is interesting. It was not an unusual color for furniture in the 1800’s, so perhaps her skin was painted because the paint was on hand, or else it was the maker (or recipient)’s custom. It is a distinctly Italian practice to paint wood faces, which is interesting, because everything else, including the china heads she appears to be a copy of, are German.

I went to school for violin restoration and we create color in our varnishes to match each restoration. Those varnishes are created by using a multitude of combinations of ground pigments. Hitty's skin tone might very well have been created by using typical white wash or milk paint and by mixing pigments made by grinding different minerals or red earth in a mortar and pestle (spelling?). Adding a touch of some other mustard tone might give the paint enough pigment.

It’s definitely a pigment, not a dye or ink. You can tell by the way it completely lifted off where it has worn. Lamp black may well be the pigment for black, but as Anne relates, it would have been made into an oil paint first. That makes it durable, as does shellac. You can clearly see aged shellac on some parts of the doll and not on others. That holds the color as well.

Fabric:

A picky thought regarding the illustration. Am I the only one who thinks the flowers on Hitty dress look Art Nouveau? To me, they are not 1820/30 motifs.

Is it possible that Dorothy may have just created some of the prints...maybe not? However, some of the early fabrics (Civil War or earlier) are surprisingly art deco in appearance.

Dating Fabrics – A Color Guide 1800-1960 by Eileen Jahnke Trestain.

I definitely think Dorothy researched the prints and other visual details for dresses in the book, and did a remarkable job. Other than the 20th century hankie with anchors on it, she seems to have made few errors.

What makes you think she researched the prints? (Not that I disagree, just wondering.) She might have had access to old clothes or something, too. When we attended the Stockbridge event, they had a speaker who told a lot about Dorothy and I would guess she was a packrat!

Dorothy must have researched the prints because she had a very good grasp of exactly when fabrics were made! You can’t do that just by hoarding.

Fabric patterns and colors are very time specific, especially in the last two centuries, because of when dyes and printing methods were invented, and the sorts of cultural changes that inspired pattern and colors. It is so unusual for someone to know this, or to care, and was less common in Dorothy’s time then now. I’m impressed by her research, and think she was fortunate to have good resources to learn from. Had she worked in color we’d know much more. Her lovely floral dress fabric, which some have said looks art nouveau, and others have said looks art deco, is just right for about 1830, with it’s little boutonnière design in a distinctively open field. These fabrics were French and were very popular – you still see them in fabrics from Provence – they are inspired by the flower and herb industry there.

Mrs. Preble:

Mrs. Preble was firm. I didn't get the idea it was no interest or attention. I rather got the idea she was following the mores(??) of the time. There was a lot of work to be done just for survival.
I don't think of Mrs. Preble as unfeeling: the times were such that childhood wasn't thought of as a special stage. They were regarded as small ignorant, untrained adults. There was a pretty fixed list of accomplishments and behaviors they must acquire to become part of society, with the list depending on their place in the social hierarchy. Mrs. Preble was a sea captain's wife, so she would have been near or at the top of their island society. Eyes would be on her and tongues ready to wag should she or Phoebe stray from their expected behavior. They would have to be model citizens, I would think. (I have wondered that she invited the peddler to stay with them in her husband's absence.)

Hitty/Church:

Can't you just imagine the excitement of having a new doll, wearing a new tippet and muff and going to church?

Little Phoebe just couldn't wait to get her hands on Hitty and then when she finally did left her behind at church and then let her rest there for several days before fessing up what happened.

When Hitty was stuck in the church, why did it take several days for Phoebe to confess? Why didn't her mother say 'ok, you can play with Hitty now'? Did Mrs. Preble not even think of this doll that had been consuming all of the attention in the house?

It does seem odd that it would take several days to discover that the object of so much recent attention was missing. You'd think that with the absence of lots of toys and the expectation for Phoebe to be grateful to the peddler, they would have discovered Hitty's absence much, MUCH earlier. However, because there was so much to do to survive, perhaps they were so busy doing chores and housework that they didn't notice Phoebe sulking or the absence of her doll.

It was probably more likely that Phoebe confessed but other work had to be done before Andy and the Peddler could ride off to church; and it was winter, and a severe one at that, so there could have been another snow storm. Phoebe's mother may have noticed the absences of the doll and waited for her daughter to confess.

That's a really good observation. Hitty had only been around a few weeks, and most likely had been with Phoebe every waking moment since she was dressed, so Mrs. Preble HAD TO have noticed that she was missing. Isn't that just like a mother to give poor little Phoebe enough time to have a severe attack of conscience before confessing!

It's always possible she saw her in church. I might not say anything, and just wait for the child to confess. Phoebe was very young.

I imagine she was fearing repercussions from her mother!! We can see that Mrs. Preble is a bit afraid of what others think (the bells on the wagon spring to mind) so she sure wouldn't have wanted to run back into the church for a doll. On the other hand, when Phoebe finally does confess, mother sends someone to fetch the doll right off, and then doesn't really punish her too awfully much.

I think that was pretty strict to make Phoebe finish her sampler while Hitty watched from the mantle. First Phoebe cannot play with her until her undergarments and dress were done, then she has to be put away because of the Sabbath. The only time Phoebe got to play with her was while Hitty was hidden in her muff! Then Hitty is back up on the mantle for another lengthy period! That would seem like forever to a seven year old child!

I don't know---it was sort of putting the time of the punishment onto the child. She had to finish the sampler, but who knows how often she worked on it? And I can bet she never, ever took something to church again!

During this time period and on through the Civil War era, many children were only allowed to play with toys on Sunday afternoon. During the week they had many chores to do and did not have much, if any, free time. They were allowed to play with their toys quietly on Sunday afternoon when it was not 'fitting' to work.

Tippet and Muff:

A Tippet is narrow piece of clothing, worn around the arms and above the elbow. They evolved in the fourteenth century from long sleeves and typically had one end hanging down to the knees.

I just re-read that chapter. The tippet and muff, well, they're sealskin!

Popinjay:
On page 17 (the last page of chapter one) Mrs. Preble scolds the Captain for spoiling Phoebe and say something about a popinjay. Since Hitty was not able to find them in her travels, I had to know what they were. I looked it up and her are the results:
Pronunciation: (pop'in-ja"), [key]
1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. Brit. Dial.a woodpecker, esp. the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic.the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic.a parrot.
It means a vain talkative person chatters like a parrot.

Arrogant person: a vain and conceited person
Encarta ® World English