Lotz Studio Dolls

A Storybook Doll My 3D Interpretation of the Book Illustrations

Hitty - A very special wooden doll

Hitty is a wooden folk doll made popular by HITTY, Her First Hundred Years, a Newbery Award winning children's book written by Rachel Field and illustrated by her friend, Dorothy P. Lathrop. In this book Hitty relates her life's adventures from her creation as a gift for her first owner, Phoebe Preble.

Jean Lotz has created a Hitty doll that is very well loved by many Hitty collectors:

I think I have captured the charm of the book illustrations and stayed true to the doll that inspired the 1929 book. What distinguishes my Hitty doll is her soft expression. I want to get the feel of the original doll's patient, "seen everything", mysterious smile. Since my Lotz Studio Hitty dolls are hand carved and hand painted each are slightly different.

The Original Hitty photo thanks to Bill Fifer The book illustrations were drawn using this original antique Hitty doll as a model.

Hitty as illustrated by Dorothy Lathrop

Jean Lotz with a Lotz Hitty
c. 2003
photo by Mark Lotz

Jean D. Lotz

Although I have worked with many popular dollmaking  materials, I feel I am best known for my wooden dolls. These dolls are carved from solid wood. I design and create each doll from head to toe, including all costumes and accessories. Each doll develops its own personality; no two are exactly alike. I create each doll as if it were going to be included in my personal collection. Primarily, I create one-of-a-kind, original dolls, but I have created a reproduction of Hitty.

I created my first Lotz Studio Hitty in 1995. This first attempt was disappointing, but I still wanted a Hitty doll for myself and my daughter. Bill Fifer, a very dear friend, came to the rescue! Bill visited the museum where the original doll was stored and sent  reference photographs and materials that I needed to create a Hitty doll that "captured the essence of the little wooden doll in the book." After carving another Hitty from my new modified pattern, I decided this was a Hitty that I would be proud to own and sell.

Presenting Hitty dolls by Jean D. Lotz

Examples of Jean Lotz's Basswood and White Ash (WA) Hitty Dolls
~ Please note that these specific dolls are not available ~

Lotz Studio Basswood Hitty example Lotzalove Basswood Hitty #B7 in a private collection

B2 - "Sewing Hitty"  Jean Lotz's own Travel Doll living in Louisiana

Lotz Studio WA Hitty example  Lotzalove White Ash Hitty #A10 ~ Lost in the mail! ~

Details about Jean's Hittys

Lotzalove basswood Hitty doll has a natural wood finish and the painted details are lightly distressed. Basswood is one of my favorite carving woods, and this wood is also popular with other Hitty carvers. The doll comes with a slip, pantaloon, chemise, and real coral necklace all made by the artist. Embroidered on the chemise in a simple style, is the name "HITTY".

The antique original Hitty doll, which inspired the 1929 Hitty book, is an antique folk doll also made of white ash. My Lotzalove White Ash Hitty is carved from this very hard wood, then painted and VERY distressed to emulate a very old wooden doll looking as if it has endured the many years and adventures of the original Hitty doll.

Unfortunately, I have temporarily discontinued making my White Ash Hitty. White ash is an extremely hard wood. It hurts my hands to carve this wood to the point that I can not make any more White Ash Hitty dolls for a while. I hope to make some in the future but I can not make any promises for these dolls at this time. Please let me know if you are interested in knowing when White Ash Hitty dolls become available again. This doll also comes with a slip, pantaloon, chemise, and real coral necklace.  "HITTY" is embroidered on the chemise in a detailed mini X-stitch.

I sign and date each doll on the rear. Initially I also named each Hitty with a different number in a sequence to identify the doll within the series but now I no longer number the dolls. I started labeling my Hitty dolls by the "HITTY LITTER" with month / year and a letter (such as "Hitty / 3-09 / a,b,c etc.").

• B1, B2, B3 - etc. = Basswood Hitty numbering sequence
• A1, A2, A3 - etc. = White Ash Hitty numbering sequence
• AN1, AN2, AN3 - etc. = Natural White Ash Hitty numbering sequence

What is a Lotz Hitty Litter?

Although I often make only one doll at a time, I constantly found myself falling far behind the demand for my dolls - especially my Hitty dolls! So in a monumental and very tiring attempt to catch up, I started carving several dolls at the same time. These were generally batches of 8 to 12. One of my customers coined the term "Hitty Litter" to describe these collections of dolls. This cute term seemed to fit and caught on. Now I label my dolls within the litter (such as "Hitty / 3-09 / a,b,c etc.").

After a monumental carving effort,
I created a Hitty Litter of 10 White Ash Dolls, at least 7 Basswood dolls
and a Lotz Baby Doll. Most for an ODACA Day Sale.

~ I quickly learned that I can't keep up this kind of pace! ~

Unfortunately, the great effort to create large Hitty Litters exhausted me too greatly. My hands hurt horribly and I was completely burned out as an artist. Now, I only attempt to create reasonable numbers of dolls per year.

How do Lotz Studio Hitty Dolls compare to others?

Hitty dolls are being made today in many different materials (WOOD, paper, porcelain, polyclay, resin, wood/resin, composition/saw dust fibers, and cloth) by many people and some manufacturers. Today's modern Hitty reproduction dolls range in price from $60.00 to $700.00 (plus). I give this background information so you can see how my Hitty doll prices fall in the overall Hitty market.

Modern Hitty dolls of all types and prices are regularly available via on-line auctions and from many artist's personal web pages.