The other day while Christmas shopping for my youngest at Toys R Us, I came across a 25th Anniversary Edition Cabbage Patch Kid doll. Seeing it brought back a lot of memories of back in the day when the Cabbage Patch Kid doll was the most coveted toy on the face of the earth. I can still remember seeing the footage of parents fighting over the dolls on Black Friday, and I also remember how sad I was that I was one of the last kids in my group of friends to get a Cabbage Patch Kid. It was like you weren’t validated unless you had at least one.
I also remember how as quickly as they made a splash, the Cabbage Patch Kid doll also seemed to go quietly in the night, fading into obscurity. After being made by Coleco (who later filed for bankruptcy) and then later Mattel, the dolls were never able to reach the fever pitch that they did in 1983 and 1985.
Created by a college artist by the name of Xavier Roberts (who later licensed the doll to Coleco), the sculptured Cabbage Patch Kid doll was first sold in Cleveland, Georgia at BabyLand General, a faux but realistic looking hospital in which the dolls were actually born, and showed being delivered by a “doctor” from out of a cabbage. Once a Cabbage Patch Kid doll was born, they were given a name and then could be adopted for a fee.
BabyLand General still is open to this day and sells the original Cabbage Patch Kid doll along with the later popularized Coleco version.
If you are a 70’s or 80’s baby, then you know all about the Cabbage Patch Kid doll. Do you remember the Cabbage Patch Kid frenzy? Did you have a doll?
Here is footage from an old newscast in 1983 showing just how crazy people were over the Cabbage Patch Kid doll:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sOlIvx7Pvs
Here is an original Cabbage Patch Kid commercial from 1983 when they were at their peak:
The original sculpted version of the Cabbage Patch Kid doll from 1977-1978. They were first called Little People and were sold with birth certificates
My mom tells me about what she went through to get this doll. I named her Ebony Aisha. Still have her.
Aisha, aww, I wish I still had my doll Malcolm Allen. I have no idea where he is or what happened to him. He was a cute brown baby boy with black hair. I miss him!
The boys were better because the original yarn headed dolls were bald headed in the middle lol
I miss my cabbage patch kids, had several of them. Wish I still had mines too. Too bad they not as popular with the newer generations. They don’t know what they missing.
I just bought my daughter an original Cabbage Patch Kid doll from their site when I was researching material for this website. I think she will like it. Hoping she falls in love with them like I did. 🙂
Aww. I am sure she will.
I’d almost forgotten this craze! My daughter, who was a toddler at the time they came out, had no interest in them. Perhaps that was because my daughter, even at that age, was pretty much a tomboy. I’m sure your daughter will enjoy her doll. This is definitely a blast from the past and a fun post to read.
I loved Cabbage Patch dolls!
Bianca Netta :*( … she had red hair and green eyes (I’ve always been obsessed with red hair and green eyes).
My sister had one – Vicky Lee.
My mother had to go out in that frenzy and find one. She was the last black doll on the shelf.
I always wanted a Cabbage Patch doll when they first came out I’m in the UK and I remeber seeing the riots on the news and thinking how cute they were even if my parents thought they were ugly but they desided to get me one but couldn’t on Xmas morning I got a care bear and Sindy doll and other stuff but no Cabbage patch doll I was gutted but fast foward to today and now I share my home with about 22 of them I love the dolls their all early 80s I bought from eBay but have a couple of modern ones too