If you have been following the adventures of Flat Hitty in “Hitty’s First Adventure” and “Hitty and the Crows,” then you know that she endured some tough times in her first months with the Preble Family. During her first summer in Maine, Hitty spent weeks in a crow’s nest, being jostled by baby birds. After trying to escape, she got caught in the branches of the ancestral pine tree on the Preble farm. Although she was rescued, her clothes were in such a state of disarray that she ”was unable to be seen much in polite society.” So Captain Preble came to the rescue by building Hitty a “neat little cradle” in his spare time. In her new cradle, Hitty could lie back and relax, listening to the crickets chirping.
Here is Dorothy P. Lathrop’s illustration of this scene. I believe Hitty’s cradle was fictional. As far as I know, Rachel Field never acquired a real cradle for Hitty like the one in the story.
History of Cradles
Anyone who has ever held a baby knows that they love movement. However, picking up a baby and soothing him is not always practical. Instead, mothers would swaddle their babies and put them to sleep in rocking cradles. This practice was common in the sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries.
The first American colonists brought cradles along with them. Peregrine White, son of Susanna and William White, was the first baby born to Puritan immigrants after arriving in America in November 1620. His parents used a wicker cradle from Holland. The cradle is now part of the collection of the Pilgrim Hall Museum.
A common cradle design in early America had sloping sides, sometimes with a hood. These simple but beautiful cradles were lovingly crafted from wood. An example is the wooden cradle pictured below, from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. If you want to see some really amazing cradle designs, take a look at this article called “Breathtaking Historical Cradles from Around the World.”
Replica Cradles
Years ago, I made a wooden replica of Hitty’s cradle, pictured in the header photo above. It was tricky to construct because of the angled sides. The pieces must be cut precisely to have a satisfactory result, and it requires a lot of sanding. I used glue to assemble mine, but you could also add tiny pegs to make it extra sturdy. If you want to try making one, take a look at this diagram showing the dimensions:
Click here to download the dimensions for Hitty’s Cradle!
Making a wooden doll cradle takes a lot of time and knowledge of woodworking. I wondered if there might be an easier way for people who don’t have the resources to make one from scratch. So I thought, why not make a 3D printed cradle? You may remember my previous project, “3D printed Kitty.” She is a Hitty size doll with magnets for joints. Her design still needs modifications, but I got tired of paying the monthly fee for ZBrush. So Kitty’s design is on hold for now.
I found an easy-to-use free online CAD (Computer Aided Design) program called Tinkercad. After some practice with Tinkercad’s modeling tools, I created a cradle design for a 3D printer. My finished 3D model is free to download from Makerworld (with a free account).
Click here to download the 3D printed cradle on Makerworld!
If you have a 3D printer or know someone who does, you can make your very own cradle for Hitty in just a few hours. My son printed this one for me on his Bambu Lab X-1 Carbon 3D printer. If you don’t know someone with a 3D printer, check out local craft shows. They almost always have one or two people selling 3D printed items. Ask them if they are able to print the 3D model for you. Another option is public libraries. Many libraries now include “maker spaces” with equipment such as 3D printers for the public to use.
The cradle is printed with plastic filament called PLA. It can be printed in any color. I used a wood-color filament made by Elegoo. If you prefer, you can paint it to look like wood grain. The main bed of the cradle is made all in one piece for easy assembly. The rockers are printed separately. Just glue them in place after printing, and your cradle is ready to rock! The nice thing about 3D models is that you can resize them easily. This means you can use the exact same file to make a cradle for a mini Hitty or even a larger baby doll.
Replica Quilt
Of course, once your cradle is ready, you will want to make a comfy quilt for Hitty. I have designed several versions of the quilt from the Hitty book over the years. Check out this tutorial for my Cradle Quilt Sampler (you can use any fabric you want). This year, to celebrate the Semiquincentennial, I designed a new red-white-and-blue version of the quilt. You can purchase “Hitty’s Cradle Quilt” as part of my “American Hitty Sampler” on Printree.
Flat Hitty’s Cradle
Of course, after learning all about cradles, I decided to create an updated version of Dorothy P. Lathrop’s illustration using Flat Hitty.
In Chapter 3 of the Hitty book there is an amusing conversation between Andy and Phoebe. Rachel Field often used moments like these to add color to the story.
And so it came to be September, with such a shine on sea and leaf and every grass blade that even I experienced a strange springing feeling down to my very pegs. Never since then have I heard crickets make such high and persistent chirpings. All day and all night you might hear them at it in the brown, burnt grass.
“They’re singin’ to keep the cold away,” Andy told Phoebe one night as we three sat on the doorstep, watching the big red fall moon rise behind the seaward islands.
“And can they?” Phoebe was always very curious about such things. “No,” Andy assured her, “they only think they can. The colder it turns the louder they holler, but the frost always gets ‘em. You wait an’ see.”
“I’m glad we’re not crickets,” said Phoebe, hugging me tighter, as if she feared I might turn into one.
That night after the whole house was still and everyone in bed, I lay in my cradle and listened to them and thought of what Andy had said. I, too, felt very glad I was not a cricket.
–Rachel Field, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
A Mysterious Poem
On a final note, a mystery has been solved. The July 1995 issue of Friends of Hitty Newsletter included a poem by Ruth B. Field called, “The Wooden Doll,” about a doll in a cradle. At the time it was published, the editor did not know anything about the poem’s origins. I used Google to discover that the poem’s author wrote many other poems and articles, often about childhood, nature and dolls, during the 1960s-1980s.
“The Wooden Doll” was first published in the National Doll World Christmas Annual 1977. Although it did not name Hitty, it seems pretty obvious that she was the subject of the poem. Remember that at the time, the Hitty book was still under copyright. The author, Ruth B. Field, lived in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. I couldn’t discover her exact birthdate, but it was estimated to be around 1906. I found a photo of Ruth on NewHampshireThenAndNow’s Facebook page which showed her at age four with a doll carriage. As far as I know, she was not related to Rachel Field. Ruth passed away some time in the late 20th century. “The Wooden Doll” is a wonderful poem which captures the memories and feelings evoked when we dream about the past.
The Wooden Doll
by Ruth B. FieldPropped in her old-time cradle bed
The wooden doll stares, staid and bland,
Still proudly lifts her hand carved head
As she stiffly holds each wooden hand –
Fashioned so many long years ago
From mountain ash to please a child,
Dressed in her faded calico,
With memories she seems beguiled –
Memories of great logs ablaze,
The iron pots’ great clouds of steam
The spinning wheel of bygone days
All intermingled in her dream
But mostly they’re of a little maid
In sombre dress and pinaforeWho to her cheek tenderly laid
The wooden doll in days of yore –
The child painstakingly who took
Wee stitches on her patchwork quilt
By flickering light in the chimney nook
Crooning a quaint old sing song lilt –
When nighttime shadows became deep
And all the evening prayers were said –
Early to bed, and peaceful sleep,
The doll tucked into her cradle bed
Gone now the cheery fire’s blaze –
And the little child long years at rest
While the wooden doll from long lost days
Stares down the years that she loved best –
But her pained eyes can weep no tears –
As she dreams her dreams of the vanished years.
Sources:
Andrews, Stefan. “Breathtaking Historical Cradles from Around the World,” TheVintageNews.com, June 13, 2018. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/06/13/vintage-cradles/. Accessed July 2026.
Blackburn, Graham. “A Short History of Cradles,” Fine Woodworking, September 14, 2005. https://www.finewoodworking.com/2005/09/14/a-short-history-of-cradles. Accessed July 2026.
“Early 19th Century Cradle,” Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Record ID: edanmdm:nmah_312870, Object ID: DL.64.0444. https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-7928-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa. Accessed July 2026.
Field, Rachel. Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. The Macmillan Company, October 1943.
Field, Ruth B. “The Wooden Doll,” Friends of Hitty Newsletter, July 1995.
Martin, Leigh. “National Doll World Magazine index,” Something Under the Bed.com. https://www.somethingunderthebed.com/CURTAIN/REVIEWSmags/NationalDollWorld.html. Accessed July 2026.
“Peregrine White Cradle,” Pilgrim Hall Museum. https://www.pilgrimhall.org/peregrine-white-cradle/. Accessed July 2026.
“Ruth B. Field at the Woodbine Cottage that was on Agassiz St in Bethlehem NH,” NewHampshireThenAndNow on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/NewHampshireThenAndNow/photos/little-ruth-b-field-at-the-woodbine-cottage-that-was-on-agassiz-st-in-bethlehemn/1142775165863809/. Accessed July 2026.
