Sunday, March 31, 2019

Hittys Room Box



Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, was written
by Rachel Fields, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
and published in 1929.  It won the Newbery Medal
for excellence in children's literature in 1930. 
Rachel was the first woman to receive the honor.
 It follows the adventures and numerous owners
of a little wooden doll Hitty, short for Mehitabel,
carved from Mountain Ash in the 1820's.

Here are photos of Hitty Farley's finished room box.
Hitty Farley was carved by Robert Raikes.
I made the dress that Hitty is wearing. 
Her other dresses are original dresses
by Robert Raikes, American Kit Company.
Hitty Farley doesn't travel like in the book, but she has 
friends that send her things from around the world.
  The figure below is called a Pflaumentoffel.  Originally
an edible figure made of prunes and sold in German
bakeries for children.  Here he is a small wooden figure
surrounded by tiny hand made trees from the 
Dresden Christmas Market in Germany.
In the book, Hitty is owned for a time 
by a portrait artist named Mr. Farley.
Cappy (short for Captain) and her bed were originally
a Wagner Kunstlerschutz Christmas ornament.
Hand made books and wood carved swan
 Japanese netsukes for bookends.
The hubs made Hitty's Shaker sewing box.
My friend Gerhard Ulbrich, who lives in Germany,
made the thread holder from a wooden drawer pull .
His wife Sigi wrapped the tiny wooden spools with thread
and crocheted the start of a sweater for Hitty to finish.
Very creative and so tiny.
Hitty's menagerie of china dogs.
Hitty Farley's best friend is
Hitty Barbel (Barbara in English), 
she lives in Wedel, Germany.
The original Hitty.
Hitty's quill feather pen is actually an 
accessory of the Playmobil Pirate from
the Pirate Ship series.
A tiny wooden village with children Christmas
carolers from the Erzenbirge region of Germany.
The delicate tiny trees are hand made.
Hitty's sea chest.
Hitty stores her shell collection in her
Dora Kuhn keepsake chest.
The hubs made her teeny Shaker boxes. 
Hitty paper dolls from a Gail Wilson kit.
Tiny Erzenbirge dollhouse.
 The postman can ring the bell when Hitty
gets a letter or package.
A big thanks to he hubs for all his creative wood
working skills and enthusiasm for Hitty's room.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hitty Farley's Roombox-Furniture & Clothing 



Hitty, Her First Hundred Years has been 
translated into several languages and she is
still popular around the world.  The hubs
made a second set of Hitty furniture.  We sent
it to Germany for Hitty Barbel to put in her 
Birch forest home.
Visit the link just below to read Barbel's story:

22 comments:

  1. This is the sweetest doll room ever! Everything is so wonderfully made!

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  2. Sherri - if Barbel could, she would write a long comment with a lot of praise. But she can not. So I say
    Great, really of all your room boxes, this is your masterpiece.
    You have succeeded in bringing Rachel Fields Hitty Preble back to life.
    Long live Hitty Farley !!
    Thank you for sharing this box with us.
    Sigi & Gerhard
    If anyone wants to see Barbel's box, here it is possible:
    http://www.sugmu.de/tort/neues/2402-neues.htm

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    1. Thank you Sigi and Gerhard! Hitty thanks you too and sends her warm greetings to Barbel. You and Gerhard have made Hitty Farley's box extra special with your generosity and talent!

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  3. More drooling!! lol IF we were little girls, couldn't we have fun playing and making things for our dolls? I am remembering a doll I made, at around age eleven, from a stick with "arms" and a spool for a head. Mama let me use a small wooden box (probably meant for jewelry, which she didn't have) for the doll's house. I played with her for hours underneath a cedar tree outside the kitchen window. So I guess these things have appealed to me for many years. Thank you so much for sharing your Hitty and her "home" with me.

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  4. You are so welcome Charlotte. Oh, I wish we lived closer, we could have so much fun with our dollies!

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  5. What a treasure this is! Lucky Hitty Farley to have a Mr. and Mrs. Farley looking after her. I do agree that room box is your masterpiece!

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    1. Thank you so much. Steve and I worked on this room a long time, that makes it special to me. Glad you enjoy it!

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  6. Wonderful room Hitty has to spend her time. She sure has everything. Love the little dresses. I can imagine all the time it took to fix everything, gather up everything and all the work painting and sewing. You always do the best work and have the sweetest things. the other little blond Hitty is sweet too.

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    1. Thank you Martha. It took a long time to finish this room. It was fun have Steve interest. I do miss sewing the clothes!

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  7. You have a magic touch of putting things together and making the perfect little room boxes. I can imagine hours of time looking for the little pieces and then creating some of your own. The best part is that you and your husband worked on this together.

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  8. Thank you Sandra, you are so right, doing this room with Steve's involvement has made it extra special. It was a little sad to see it come to an end, but I have another room to move onto.

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  9. I love it when folks get together and share views.
    Great site, continue the good work!

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  10. Dear Sherri, you are missed in blog land. I do hope the holidays were happy for you and that all is well in your life. Just wanted to let you know that I still have hope for another post from you someday. Take care. Happy New Year.

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  11. Thank you Lilly Allen, glad you enjoyed it!

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  12. I believe I have a Dora Kuhn Bavarian style doll house with furniture and dolls included that I would like to sell. I wanted to authenticate it through Sigi Ulbrich whom you mentioned in you lovely history of Dora Kuhn. The sites listed are all in German. Do you know a way of contacting Sigi in English? Many thanks, Lynn

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  13. Lynn,
    You can email me at sherrifarley@gmail.com Send me photos of your dollhouse furniture and dolls, and I can forward to Sigi Ulbrich.
    Sherri

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  14. Hi Sherry,
    I stumbled on to your site looking for Dora Kuhn information. I have a 2-floor Dora Kuhn doll house that is a smaller size with all the furniture that came with it. It has been loved by two generations and now it is time to pass it on to someone who will light up with delight to own it. I am guessing it is the 1/12 size but not sure. I cannot get information by just putting in Tortula or Sigi Ulbrich. Is there an exact website address that you can pass on? I want to be accurate with approx. date of house and size. It s a swiss style house with removable red roof and so charming. I will be putting it on ebay for sale unless you know someone who might want to own a Dora Kuhn doll house. It has only two remaining original flowers in the 4 window boxes and I read with amazement that you got replacements from Sigi!! Wonderful! Happy to send you photos if you would like to the doll house. I am in awe of everything you do as seen on your beautiful site. Thanks, Lynn I

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  15. Lynn, Glad you found my blog. You can send photos to me at sherrifarley@gmail.com
    I may be able to give you information but I can contact and forward to Sigi Ulbrich. I look forward to hearing from you.
    Sherri

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  16. Thinking of you this Christmas...miss your posts. Sandra

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    1. Thank you Sandra, I just gotten so far from my blog with other things. I am well and hopefully will be able to return soon. Hope you are doing well too.
      Sherri

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    2. Sherri, I just read your reply. I would love to see you back here on your blog; even if it is just an occasional post. Something to look forward to.

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