The most popular kids of the 1980s had ugly fat squished faces, stumpy arms and chubby little hands . . . They were The Cabbage Patch Kids.
No two dolls were alike as the computer-controlled production line process ensured subtle differences during manufacture. Each doll came with an adoption certificate (so not only were they ugly and fat, they were adopted – what were we trying to teach our kids?).
Cabbage Patch Dolls were created by 21-year-old American art student and sculptor, Xavier Roberts. He used quilting skills learned from his mother to stitch together fabric dolls, which he called The Little People.
Although Roberts didn’t sell his dolls, he took them to various art fairs where they eventually drew the attention of toy-maker Coleco, who acquired the licence for the dolls, renamed them Cabbage Patch Kids and mass-produced them ready for the dolls to go on sale in the US in 1983.
As Christmas approached, parents became increasingly desperate to ‘adopt’ one for their child.
75 million were sold worldwide in 12 years.
Coleco went out of business but the licence to manufacture Cabbage Patch Kids passed from one toy company to another. The range is still going strong with new designs introduced, including adoptable pets.
Video
Related Posts
Major Matt Mason "Mattel’s Man in Space!" Space exploration was the dream of many a young mind in the late 1960s, and Major…
Captain Action With a change of clothes and mask, Captain Action could alter his identity into some of the mightiest heroes on…
Big Jim Big Jim was a poor cousin of GI Joe, so kids could still afford him on a newspaper delivery boy's salary. The…
Tamagotchis Already hugely popular in Japan, Bandai's Tamagotchis - or "virtual pets" - were all the rage in the US in…
Sea Monkeys There have been plenty of toys that allowed children to put their natural creative energies to work. Lego, Erector sets, and countless…
G.I. Joe The G.I. Joe story began in 1963 when a marketing man approached the Hasbro toy company with the idea of…
Crazy Foam Originally made by the American Aerosol Company in 1965, the "fun foam soap" delighted kids with pop culture character designs…
Klackers/Clackers/Klick-Klacks Also known as Clackers, Klick-Klacks, Whackers, Ker-Knockers, Whack'os, Bangers, Poppers, Bonkers, Clack Clacks, K-Nokkers, Mini Poppers, Rockers, Super Clackers, Whak…
