Forty Years since the Cabbage Patch Craze
In the early 80s, the fascination with Cabbage Patch Kids was undeniable and unexplainable. A pudgy-bodied, dimpled-face doll with yarn hair was the hottest Christmas gift in 1983. Some of these dolls had yellow hair and blue eyes, while others had brown hair, green eyes, and freckles. Cabbage Patch Kids were one of the first dolls available as both girl and boy dolls and the dolls were “so ugly, they were cute,” and varied in appearance. Both girls and boys wanted a doll of their own complete with the stamped autograph of Xavier Roberts, the creator of the doll, on the doll’s rear end. Additionally, each of the dolls was given a unique name and came with adoption papers.
I desperately wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid when I was in third grade. I saw the commercials on TV and in the pages of the Christmas catalogs that arrived in the mail. As I scanned the catalogs, I didn’t see a doll that resembled me. There were no dolls with black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin, but it didn’t matter, I still wanted one of my own.
Dolls have been my favorite toy since I was very young. I always gave my dolls a very special name. I loved to pretend I was a mother and took care of my babies. I also liked to brush and style my doll’s hair for hours. My mother is a talented seamstress and was sure my dolls had a complete wardrobe from a nightgown to a fur coat.
I was sure to tell my parents how much I wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas. My mom gently let me know they were in very high demand and that it would probably not be possible, but maybe I would get one next year. On Black Friday of that year, crazed shoppers across the country were shown on the local news stations pushing and shoving to try and get their hands on a Cabbage Patch Kid in time for Christmas.
Even though my mom told me I wouldn’t be getting a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas, I still hoped there would be one for me under the tree. With the demand so high and the supply so low, “fake” Cabbage Patch Kids began to emerge. Crafty mothers and grandmothers bought patterns to sew a doll with a cloth face that resembled a Cabbage Patch Kid. I remember some of them had nylon pantyhose on their arms and legs to look like skin. The homemade dolls weren’t as good as the real thing, but the real ones were such a rarity, that it was better to have something rather than nothing.
On Christmas morning, I walked out to the living room to open gifts with my two older brothers, Doug and Tom. I was shocked to see a large box with a clear plastic window on the front. Inside it was a Cabbage Patch doll with long, bright red hair. I ran to the box screaming with delight. My mom was watching me with a big smile on her face. “How did you get one?” I asked her in disbelief. She told me how she was at the customer service desk at JCPenney in Carroll and the doll was sitting on the back counter. She asked the salesperson about the doll and was told the doll had been returned because had it red hair. My mom knew how happy it would make me, so she bought it and hid it well until Christmas Day.
Cabbage Patch Kids remained popular for many years into the late 90s. The dolls changed a bit and the toy line included “Preemies” (babies with little or no hair), Koosas (animal versions of the doll), and eventually multicultural dolls with darker skin tones. When I was in college, my mom gave me another big surprise – an Asian/Pacific Islander Cabbage Patch Kid. Finally, I had one that looked like me, plus she had real silky hair instead of yarn. Even though I was too old to play with dolls, I dressed up my doll in a new outfit made by my mom and styled her jet-black hair.
After seeing it was forty years since the Cabbage Patch Kid Craze began, I posted about it on my personal Facebook page. Friends reacted and commented as they reminisced about their own memories of their Cabbage Patch Kids. I compiled their comments below:
Joy Steiner
It was Sernett’s for me. I had actually put it on “Layaway” and did chores, etc. to fill the chart for her. When I finally got to pick her up the nice lady in the toy department asked me not to take it out of the bag until we got home because it would cause a ruckus!
Barb Edwards
I spotted a Cabbage Patch doll that was named Virgil, my dad’s name, and to this day I’m disappointed in myself for not buying it! I remember they were so popular!
Paula Moriarty
My story is my dad worked at Crouse Cartage and had his truck drivers keep an eye out. My doll, Tricia Dolores, was a “preemie” who came from down South somewhere.
Kimberly Schroeder Johnson
My dad went to Kansas City to get mine. I still have all of mine including the twins, Miles & Niles, and the horse.
Susan Bailey
Mine came through the catalog somehow, and I think later than everyone else's. She was in a cardboard box, not the paperboard one with the window. But I loved her anyway - April Justine. She's in my daughter's closet with her American Girl doll.
My mom’s basement has been a treasure trove of our old toys for as long as I can remember. She held onto everything from Strawberry Shortcake, Star Wars, Barbie, G.I. Joe, and of course, my beloved Cabbage Patch dolls. I opened the storage container for the first time in years to see my precious dolls. The girls still wore the same hairstyles I painstakingly created in the 1980s, complete with colorful ribbons.
I’m proud to be a part of The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative:
Thank you for the smiles and memories this morning, Jane.
My daughter was the age then that really wanted a Cabbage Patch doll, I was a pretty much broke single Mom at the time. She was happy to get a homemade one. I will have to say I did a pretty good job making it.