HITTY by Rachel Field 23 1929

Dorothy Lathrop's illustration from Rachel Field's "Hitty," published in 1923, presents a tableau of childhood. It is a vision of innocence amidst a world of imagined companions, rendered in stark black and white. The image creates meaning through its cultural references to children's literature, invoking a sense of nostalgia. Made in America during the roaring twenties, it reflects a society that idealized childhood while dealing with the social upheaval of modernization. The composition is self-consciously sentimental, aligning with conservative notions of family and domesticity, yet the artist makes a point of obscuring any human adult figure in this world. To fully grasp Lathrop’s imagery, one might consider the social history of childhood, the rise of children's literature, and the changing roles of women in the early 20th century. These sources help us understand the political work that nostalgic imagery performs in the present.