Last year, Bill Fifer gifted me with his archive of Hitty-related materials (see Bill Fifer’s Gift). The Carving Hitty post included Bill’s Hitty Doll Pattern and showed the steps he used for creating his dolls. Bill was consistent about signing and dating his dolls, which can be identified with a number on the back. He also kept a record of his dolls and who purchased them. Bill carved 82 dolls, including a few mini Hittys, between 1996 and 2018.
The header photo above shows some of the Hitty dolls in Bill’s personal collection. Bill also carved the Bécassine in the top left and the grandmother reading the Hitty book. All the dolls were costumed by Pat.
Back Row
No. 76: Hitty Lucie. Carved 2/7/08, from basswood.
No. 69: Hitty Adina. Carved 3/07, from basswood, in a class taught by Janet Cordell. Adina Huckins carved the flower in her hair. She has bare feet, as befits a mountain hillbilly girl.
No. 45: Hitty Sumiko. Carved 1/6/05, from holly wood. Dressed in Japanese kimono and named for a Japanese girl who helped Pat in Japan.
Middle Row
No. 27: Hitty Freckles. Carved 7/14/02, from mountain ash.
No. 79: Unnamed. Carved from mountain ash. Now resides with Kjerstin Mackie who named her Hitty Willa.
Front row
No. 63: Hitty Bess. Carved 9/12/05, from white pine. This was Pat’s favorite travel Hitty.
No. 1: Bill’s first Hitty, carved July 1996, from white ash. She is only 5-3/4-inches tall.
Hitty Robertson’s Photos
Esther Robertson purchased doll No. 31, carved from mountain ash, from Bill Fifer in 2002. This particular doll became famous as the main character in Esther’s blog about her Hittys and their adventures. Esther recreated fabulous settings for the dolls and took pictures which told their stories. I hope you enjoy these selections from her many years of creating the blog. All photos are courtesy of Esther Robertson.
No. 60 Hitty Charlotte (center) and No. 72 Hitty Aude (right).
Bill Fifer’s Hitty Club Dolls
Twenty years ago, Bill brought several of his dolls to sell at a Hitty Club meeting. Betty Lubbert and the other members met in Esther Robertson’s home in Pennsylvania from 2005 to 2018. For the meeting in May 2005, Bill made dolls from basswood, mountain ash, maple, white pine, jelutong and English rowan. Pat costumed them all in delightful, floral print dresses, and Esther made their undergarments. The lucky dolls also received pinafores and crocheted shawls. You can read Esther’s account of the meeting in Chapter 50 of her blog.
The club members were happy to show off their new dolls made by Bill.
Front: Esther Robertson, Joann Wester (deceased), Toni Rieger, Jackie Corace.
Courtesy of Bill Fifer.
Betty Lubbert owns three of the dolls from the sale. Here is a photo of her girls in shamrock dresses. The Hitty in the middle is No. 49, the only one Bill ever carved from English rowan wood.
Hitty Gallery
Here are more photos of dolls made by Bill Fifer. Click on any photo below to enlarge and view the captions. I added them in order of creation date, so you can see how Bill’s carving progressed over time. If you own a Bill Fifer doll which is not shown in the photos, please Contact Me.
