Hitty Dimensions

The original Hitty doll, also known as “Ancestor Hitty,” is a one-of-a-kind creation. Many of us wish we could have an exact copy, and the only way to do that is with accurate measurements. Keep reading to find out how I made a comprehensive list of Ancestor Hitty’s dimensions.

Of all the artists who have created Hitty dolls, only woodcarver Michael Langton made exact copies. Michael Langton began carving in 1972, but his big break came in 1979, when he carved a wooden doll for the movie On Golden Pond. He discovered a way to create resin copies of the doll, named “Elmer,” that looked like real wood. That got the attention of the Stockbridge Library and Museum, and they subsequently commissioned him to make a mold of Ancestor Hitty. Mr. Langton used a 3D scanner to make the mold. Then he cast resin duplicates of the original doll. Although Mr. Langton no longer makes resin copies of the doll, the Stockbridge Library owns the rights to the mold. I have hopes that they may decide to issue more reproductions in the future.

When Michael Langton was creating resin reproductions, he sold the dolls on his website: “www.mlangtonhitty.com.” This screenshot from 2011 shows that at that time, at least three different dolls were offered.

PEACHES AND CREAM HITTY was painted, signed and dressed in either an embroidered chemise and pantaloons or a chemise and skirt, for a cost of $149.00 plus $7.00 s/h.
HITTY KIT was sold assembled but unpainted for a cost of $99.00 plus $7.00 for s/h.
GOLDEN HITTY was painted and signed and dressed in a chemise and skirt for a cost of $149.00 plus $7.00 s/h.

*Screenshot from Michael Langton’s website (“For Sale” Section)*

Another item of interest on the website was a challenge for purchasers of Michael Langton Hittys to post a picture of Hitty in a recreated scene from the book. Hittygirls members were invited to participate in the challenge. One of the members, Margie S., generously shared a picture of her entry in the challenge. She dressed her Hitty in a beautiful silk handkerchief and posed her with an East Indian Snake Charmer, complete with cobra and basket.

*Contest Entry by Margie S. in the 2011 Michael Langton Hitty Challenge (Courtesy of Margie S.)*

Mr. Langton also hand-carved a few wooden Hittys, and those dolls are destined to become treasured heirlooms. Margie S. owns two of these dolls. One is carved from pine and the other from jelutong, an Asian wood with a uniform grain, similar to basswood.

*Ancestor Hitty copy, carved from pine by Michael Langton (Courtesy of Margie S.)*

*Hitty Mirth, carved from jelutong by Michael Langton (Courtesy of Margie S.)*

On his website, Mr. Langton described how he developed his Heirloom Collector’s Set. In the early 2000’s, he collaborated with the Stockbridge Library to create a special edition, which was initially limited to 1,000 dolls. The set included a doll in a brown flowered print dress, a complete, miniature copy of the book, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, which was stamped with the Stockbridge Library seal, and a beautiful wooden trunk. After disagreements with the Stockbridge Library about the percentage of their “take,” Michael Langton changed the run to only 100 dolls. He sold doll number 99/100 to Hittygirls member Margie S. and decided to keep the very last doll himself. Thanks to Margie S. for sharing these pictures of her very special doll.

*Photo of Stockbridge Library Heirloom Collector’s Set (Courtesy of Margie S.)*

The trunk is marked with the initials “H.P.” for Hitty Preble. It has a removable tray inside for storing the doll. The bottoms of the tray and trunk are made from aromatic cedar to protect the doll from insect infestation.

*Inside the Stockbridge Library Heirloom Collector’s Set Trunk (Courtesy of Margie S.)*

The lid of the trunk is marked with the edition number and date.

*Inscription in lid of Collector’s Set Trunk (Courtesy of Margie S.)*

The development of the Heirloom Collector’s Set started with a reproduction of the real doll. But how to go about reproducing an antique without harming the original? Mr. Langton came up with an innovative solution. He described this process on his website:

The solution consisted of me taking Hitty to a place that used a laser and scanned the Original. A starting point was established and a data point was made, then the doll was moved one thousandth of an inch and another data point was made, and then another and another. This was done for hours and hours until the doll was digitized. It took hundreds of thousands of data points to accomplish this. From here we took the data points to a shop and they used these points to make a model that was the exact reproduction of the Original Hitty (without any danger to the original) and this model we then used to make our molds.
From Michael Langton’s website (“History” section)

Unfortunately, Michael Langton’s dolls are no longer being manufactured, but they can sometimes be found on the secondary market. I have two of his dolls, purchased on ebay. The first one is a Perfume doll wearing her original chemise and pantaloons. She is signed, “Michael Langton, © 200?” The date is blurred out, but it could be 2000 or 2001.

*Signature on Perfume Hitty reads, “Michael Langton © 200?”*

The Perfume doll’s head unscrews to reveal the applicator. Due to the necessity of having a bottle inside the torso, this doll is heavier than the other resin versions.

*Michael Langton Perfume Hitty with the head removed*

My other Michael Langton doll is an unpainted, undressed “Hitty Kit.” Here are photos of my two dolls for comparison.

Since the Michael Langton Hittys are supposed to be exact copies of Ancestor Hitty, I thought it would be fun to measure them. The first measurements of Ancestor Hitty were taken by woodcarver Bill Fifer. In 1996, he and his wife Pat were invited to visit Hitty at the Stockbridge Library, and they measured the doll using a digital caliper. An article with these dimensions was originally published in Friends of Hitty Newsletter, Fall 1997 Volume 3, Issue 3. Hittygirls members can access a copy through the group files. You can also see a scan of the dimensions on Julie Old Crow’s website.

Accurate measurements are critical when making a doll at such a small scale. I took measurements of both Perfume Hitty and Hitty Kit with a digital caliper.

*Taking Hitty’s measurements with a digital caliper*

My Perfume Hitty was pretty close to Bill Fifer’s dimensions. However, her arms were slightly too long. Then I checked Hitty Kit’s measurements and found something odd. The entire doll was slightly smaller than the Perfume Hitty, with the exception of the torso, which was a little longer. I suspect the strange proportions must have something to do with the particular mold used by Michael Langton to make this edition.

Perfume Hitty ended up being the closest match to Ancestor Hitty. I then created a comparison chart of Bill Fifer’s dimensions of Ancestor Hitty next to the measurements I took of Perfume Hitty. The important thing was to determine if the Michael Langton’s Perfume Hitty was a true representation of Ancestor Hitty, and my results showed that it was very close. The one body part that seemed most inaccurate was the arm. Ancestor Hitty’s right arm was about 95% smaller than Perfume Hitty’s.

Another complication was that the measurements of the two arms and two legs were slightly different. Bill Fifer only measured one of the arms, and he did not state which arm! On Perfume Hitty, the left arm was slightly longer than the right, and the hand was larger as well. I decided to use the right arm measurement from Hitty Kit, which was a lot closer to Ancestor Hitty’s. I combined all these measurements to create a complete list of Hitty dimensions. I feel the list is as accurate as I can make it without handling and remeasuring the actual Ancestor Hitty doll.

These Ancestor Hitty Doll Dimensions should be helpful to anyone who wants to create a doll which is the same size as the original. Below are some more photos of my Michael Langton Perfume Hitty doll from various angles, which can be helpful when carving a doll. Good luck making your Ancestor Hitty copies!