Innocent-looking it may be, but parents everywhere would never again underestimate the pulling power of a pair of pudgy stuffed arms and too-closely set eyes. Never again would they spend the weeks before Christmas waking up in a cold sweat because they couldn't - for love nor money - find a toy store that had any in stock. What am I talking about? The year of 1983, that's what, and the Cabbage Patch Kids craze (or curse, as parents might refer to it).
The Cabbage Patch Kids - not to be confused with the poor imitation Flower Patch Kids, which didn't even have separate fingers - didn't hit the big time straightaway, though. In the beginning, they had been the subjects of an art exhibition created by scuptor, Xavier Roberts. He used German fabric sculpting and quilting methods to produce his (originally termed) 'Little People', which he'd sell at various arts and crafts fairs to substitute his art school fees. Roberts later opened up an area of Babyland General Hospital as a 'birthing' and rehoming department for his Cabbage Patch Kids. Here, people would come to buy their own doll, and even today tourists flock to the site in Georgia, US.
As the popularity of the dolls grew, in 1982 Roberts partnered up with toy manufacturer Coleco to meet demand from the masses (this had been given an unexpected boost with an appearance on reality TV show Real People in the US).
By modern standards, these dolls were rather ugly, with pudgy, round faces, stumpy arms and small, close-set eyes. What seemed to draw kids to them, however, was their uniqueness - a point that was cleverly marketed and made the dolls stand out. Each doll came with its own birth certificate for its new owner to keep in pride of place, so each Cabbage Patch Doll also had its own unique name. Once the adoptive parents (the doll's new owners) filled out the included paperwork and sent this off to the manufacturer, they would then receive a first birthday card in the post! And as if they weren't unique enough, the computer-controlled manufacturing process randomly made small changes to each doll so that no two dolls were the same.
Despite rioting in the aisles as parents fought to get the last Cabbage Patch Doll in the run up to Christmas, the dolls were discontinued in 1989. Hasbro took over production from this point, adding a number of gimmicks, such as ones wit kazoos they could play. Unsurprisingly, this didn't take off, so in 1994 Mattel took over the Cabbage Patch Kid license. The most revolutionary change Mattel made to the dolls was making some available in vinyl - making for much more durable playmates. In 1996, there was also a range of Olympiakids released to cash in on the Olympics that year.
The Talking Cabbage Patch Kid was a side line launch that was perhaps a bit ahead of its time (something Furbys would later get spot on). The price tag for owning a doll that was able to detect the presence of another doll and converse with it without any human interaction was pretty steep back then, plus there was the added price for many of the nightmares that would come from owning such a 'toy'.
In 2003 Toys R Us had its chance to make a mark on Cabbage Patch Kids. It decided to produce 20-inch kids (compared to the usual 14 inches) - in celebration of 20 years of Cabbage Patch Kids.
But enough of the facts. What everyone wants to know is: were they worth the bruises, Mum? Of course they were.
Do You Remember Cabbage Patch Dolls?
Do You Remember Cabbage Patch Dolls?
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Anonymous
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I was 9 years old when I got my first cabbage patch-a bald headed boy named Rafeal Monroe--My mom searched and searched for him for weeks and weeks for my birthday. Finally she found him and ironically enough he had the same birthday as me September 1. I still have him today 23 years later and he now has approximately 130 brothers and sisters as I am a FINATIC collector.
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Anonymous
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I loves my cabbage patch kids, I had three...My first was Valerie Angelique, next came Olive Sharona and then Alison Nita. (Who thought up those names?) I still have them but now have no clothes, and interesting home made make up!
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Anonymous
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I went to Toy's R Us when I was 6 years old with my aunt and older cousin. It took a while to find Lisa Jo, becuase I wanted her with braids just like I had. When I was 10 we moved to Nicaragua, and I lost her astronaut outifit. Since then, she still travels with me on long plane trips to the States. She is my only daughter and has been very loved. Now that I'm 26 and a bride-to-be, I will be getting married on her 20th birthday- october 1st! I have to find her a nice dress...
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Anonymous
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CABBAGE PATCH KIDS ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous
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I always hated cpks.whenever we would go to the store i would point at them and pretend to puke.then one day around christmas,i saw her.the cutest,prettiest,most adorable cpk ever!!!!!! her name was tara.she had dark brown hair and brown eyes,light skin,and the most friendly yet mischievious smile.if she had had some glasses, she would have looked just like me! i told my mom all about this doll. then at christmas eve i oppend the cpk shaped box.inside i found MY doll.if my brother so much as touched it,he got chased and hunted down.when my friend, michelle, heard about my cpk she got one for herself.she got a little boy.his name was pablo! he was also very cute!pablo and tara were the best of friends. i never really saw my friend other than school ,so tara didn't get to see pablo very much.so michelle said we should bring our cpks to school.i was sort of shy of what other kids would say or think about my little tara.but i didn't want to make my friend look babyish by being the only one in school with a cpk.so the next day, we brought our dolls to school.alot of the boys made fun of them and said they were ugly.so michelle started mooning the boys with pablo.she would pull his pants down below his cheeks, face his butt tword them and say in a high pitched voice, moooooooooon!!!!!!! it was funny.i didn't do the "mooon" thing with tara 'cause....she was a girl!!!duh! michelle still has pablo and a couple more cpks. i still have tara and 3 more cpks. also, there's this one on ebay i really want.but no matter how many cpks i get, tara will always be my first! oh yeah, this happend when i was 9. this memorie isn't very old because i'm only,like 11 now.i just couldn't wait to tell people about MY cabbage patch kid. PS.i don't hate cpks any more, I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous
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Well..even though I was born in the early 90s, I might as well had been an 80s child. My mom had her first child in '81, who is my older brother today. During that time she was so happy with her little baby boy, but it had always been her dream to have a little baby girl. So she went out and bought dolls and toys that she saved in her closet for when her little girl would come along. The years went by and the collection in her closet grew, and she had already had 1 miscarrige by then. Later on, I was born and was given all these 80s toys! Transformers, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, Star Wars action figures, Barbies, My Little Ponies, and tons and tons more. Then amongst all these toys I discovered a cabbage patch doll in her box, with her little outfit on, paci in mouth just staring at me through the cellophane. That was the end of that box. I tore it apart and squeezed my little auburn haired, voilet/gray eyed paci cutie to death! We went everywhere together. At the time I had recieved her, I couldnt read so her birth certificate was disregarded. Later on my mom told me how she and my brother went to Bradlees in 1985 to get some cabbage patch dolls. They went home with one preemie boy for my brother, a blonde 'Kid for my mom, and one for the collection in my mom's closet. To this day, I still have her, and she sits on my dresser and greets me every day. Also she is adorable NOT ugly.
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Anonymous
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Love them or hate them....mass produced Cabbage Patch Kids have never stopped being made sine 1983. In fact....they have continuously been the #1 selling doll in their category. Whether you love the 22" Soft Sculptured originals from Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Gorgia USA or the vintage Coleco (1983-1989), Hasbro Kids (1990-1994), Mattel's (1995-2001), TRU Kids (2001-2005) or the Play Along Kids (2004 to present). You can't deny the popularity of these "Kids" and there place in toy history. Not many toys, much less dolls have the life in them that Cabbage Patch Kids posses. So, millions of adoptive men, woman, boys and girls across the world can't be wrong......Cabbage Patch Kids are here to stay.
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Anonymous
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Everyone mentions their CPKs, so here's a new one! I bought one for my daughter in 1985. It was a preemie. I fell in love with them myself, but never collected them as I thought people would think I was crazy! Here I am at 46 years old and still love them, so I started collecting the vintage cabbage patch kids! I have 5 right now, with 5 more coming! I also have 14 newborns from 2005 that were available for 1 day only! I'm still a die hard fan of the 80's dolls though.
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Anonymous
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I became fond of the CPK in 1983 when they first come out. Miranda was my first Cabbie. She had long lemon yarn hair in a pony to one side of her head. She worn a pretty ruffled pinafore & dress, white tights & authentic crinkly Pampers diaper. She had a wonderful Baby Powder scent. I used her alot in photographic families & children in my work. I'm now a certified textile restorer technician & I'm taking the delight to become a Cabbage Patch Kid Restorer. And now I'm part of the Cabbage Patch Collectors Club. A work of love. It's as good as working in the garden to relax! Miranda is still working with me. Miranda is now 23 years old and still in diapers! LOL
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Anonymous
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my cousin sarah won one of the first to be in britain through a newspaper.she showed off for months but i didnt like them anyway i liked carebears though my mum bought me bedtime bear for xmas ...even though i was 13 or 14 years old???!!! how sad is that
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