See the Rachel Field and Hitty Collection at the GCI Historical Museum!
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
The state of Maine, and especially the Cranberry Isles, held strong and lasting ties on author Rachel Field.
Field's book, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, was clearly written with Great Cranberry Island in mind.
A perennial favorite since its release in 1929, the Newbery award winning children's novel is about an actual hand-carved wooden doll named Hitty (short for "Mehitabel".)
Written in the doll's own words, the book describes Hitty's many scrapes and adventures, from when she is first carved in Maine around 1827, until she is found by Field 100 years later in an antique store in New York City.
Rachel Field and artist Dorothy Lathrop planned the plot and illustrations of Hitty, Her First Hundred Years while staying at Sutton Island, one of the five Cranberry Isles.
It's clear that Field set the opening chapters of Hitty on Great Cranberry. She was familiar with the island from writing God's Pocket, a lively account of Captain Samuel Hadlock, Jr., of that island.
In Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, "Phoebe Preble" is the doll's first owner. The description of her house matches the actual Preble House on Great Cranberry Island, built by Capt. Hadlock, and later owned by William and Abigail Preble. The actual Meeting House (church) and the raspberries on the back shore are also mentioned in the book.
The Great Cranberry Island Historical Society thus claims that Great Cranberry Island is, in fact, Hitty's Home, where she was "born." Facts and photos supporting that claim are offered on the society's HittyPreble.com web site.
Because of this connection, the society's Historical Museum has a large and growing collection of Hitty dolls and accessories, featuring the unique child-size Big Hitty.
Hitty's Theme is an original song written by professional musician Geoffrey Wadsworth especially for the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society.
Hear the song, with its beautiful, innocent, haunting melody, in our new video, Great Cranberry Island: Hitty's Home.
Hitty sits in an antique shop window,
What's her next adventure,
Watching the world go by.
She takes up her quill pen,
To write down her story,
Of a seafaring goddess,
Oh, what a story to tell.
Hitty was carved on Cranberry Island,
In the dead of winter,
By a Yankee peddler.
Made of mountain-ash wood,
With a pleasant expression,
For little Phoebe Preble,
Oh, what a story to tell.
Hitty rides in a snake charmer's basket,
Bought for Little Thankful,
Scorned by society.
An artist's little model,
Rolling like Moses,
On the Mississippi,
Oh, what a story to tell.
Hitty's lost in the dead letter office,
Sitting in the crow's nest,
Sleeping in the hay.
A star of the stage,
In a white cotton wedding dress,
Sold at auction,
Oh, what a story to tell.
Hitty sits in an antique shop window,
Watching the world go by.
She takes up her quill pen,
To write down her story,
Oh, what a story to tell.
Words & music Copyright © 2004 Geoffrey Wadsworth, all rights reserved.
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