Cabbage+Patch+Kid+Dolls

Cabbage Patch Kid Dolls are shaking up the 80’s. United States doesn't know it yet, but they're about to go into one of the biggest toy craze ever seen. Back in the 80’s the Cabbage Patch Kids were a fad, they were a toy that every child yearned for under the Christmas tree. However, the Cabbage Patch Kids became much more than a toy; they became something that shaped the toy industry, they became something that shaped a child’s dream, and they became something that shaped the adult’s behavior.
 * // Cabbage Patch Kid Dolls //**

//** Contents **//
 * 1) The Humble Beginning
 * 2) The Uproar (1980-1990)
 * 3) The Downhill Journey
 * 4) The Return of the Dolls

//** The Humble Beginning **// Cabbage Patch Dolls did not come in with a big bang; they did not come in with trumpets playing a fanfare and angels singing. No, they came in quietly in 1978 by Xavier Roberts. Roberts was born in 1955 on Halloween. He was only 21 when he sold his first doll, and he was an art student. He used a German technique from the early 1800s called “needle molding.” He made little dolls with soft bodies and called them “Little People." They were made with cloth. He displayed the doll at a gift shop, Unicoi gift shop, but he wasn't intending to sell them. However, a visitor came and asked him how much the dolls were and he told the visitor that it wasn't for sale. At that moment he came up with the idea of adopting the dolls and told the visitor that she could adopt it for $30.00. At first he would make them, but soon he received more orders than he could make so he got his mom and sister to help him. The orders still exceeded their capacity to fill them. He sold the Kids without hair for $50 and the ones with hair for $60. The dolls got their start at an art show where he and Debbie Morehead answered any questions that were asked of them. On July 7, 1978 Roberts got together four women, and one man from school to help him with the corporation he intended to form. The corporation was called "Babyland General Hospital.

//** The Uproar (1980-1990) **// In 1981, the Little People Originals were recognized by several magazines including Newsweek, The Atlanta Weekly, and The Walls Street Journal. These magazines featured the Little People Originals in them and it made them, Little People, more popular than before. However, the Kids didn't need the magazines to make them popular. They received free ads from news-reporter reporting about fights over the Kids. There were reports of the original dolls being re-adopted for about 100 times their original adoption fee of $40. In 1982, Coleco, a company of toy manufacturer, and they began to mass production of the dolls, “Little People” which was renamed to Cabbage Patch Kids. The toys began selling for $30 or under. By the 1983, close to 3 million of them have been adopted, but not all demands been met. Then in 1985, they joined the Young Astronaut Program and one of the Kids, Christopher Xavier, got to be a passenger on the U.S. Space Shuttle. In 1986 the very first talking Cabbage Patch Kids was made. When Coleco went bankrupt in the year 1988 Hasbro took over the rights to produce Cabbage Patch. Hasbro was unable to make Cabbage Patch Kids much better so Mattel took over the brand and production in 1989. By 1990 more than 65 million Cabbage Patch Kids have been adopted. Cabbage Patch Kids was among the top 10 bestselling of the year. Children everywhere are clamoring for a doll and parents are frantically searching for one to fulfill their child’s wish.

//** The Downhill Journey **// Cabbage Patch Kids are becoming less popular and coveted. They have are still riding on the tidal wave that they have created in the 80’s, but they will soon become like another doll on the market. During their last tidal wave they were honored to be named the official mascot of the U.S Olympic Team in 1992 and in 1995 for the summer games. As the 80's started ending the Kids did one last incredible thing, they were voted as one of fifteen stamps commemorating the 80's. The stamps started their sale in January of 2000. However, Cabbage Patch Kids were not being bought, or adopted, feverishly anymore. In fact, they became more of a fond memory and less of something that people would buy at a price of $190 and up for. Now only collectors would buy them to add to their collection. Children no longer clamored for the doll to be under their Christmas trees; parents no longer rushed to get in line and fought other parents for a Cabbage Patch Kids; children’s dreams were no longer crushed if they did not get a Cabbage Patch Kids. However, Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls were not done, they made a comeback.

The Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls got their comeback in the year 2001. It began with the introduction of an exclusive line of the Dolls. On January 1st, 2002, a minute after midnight the Cabbage Patch Kid twins were born and they were born at Toys ‘R Us Time Square. The twins are named Bonnie Ellen and Geoffrey Wallace. The person to adopt the twins was Hallie Kate Eisenberg and she also took the Oath of Adoption. On July 27th, 2002 every single Cabbage Patch Kid in the store of Toys ‘R Us in Alpharetta, Ga was adopted in less than 15 minutes. In 2003, the exclusive Spring Event baby was adopted for $325 and a few months later it was re-adopted for double the original amount. 2004 brings a new line of Cabbage Patch Kids and was adopted quickly by thousands. September 2004 brings a one of a kind Celebrity Cabbage Patch Kids, and it was modeled after Ellen DeGeneres. She sold her kid on eBay and received more than $15,000. She donated all $15,000 to the American Red Cross and Noah’s Wish. By November 2004 more than 40 licenses have been signed to produce Cabbage Patch products. Cabbage Patch Kids was voted by January 2005 to be a finalist of the Toy of the Year Award. By the summer of 2005 Cabbage Patch Kids was in more than 100 shows and events around the world. On Thursday, May 3rd, 2007 the construction of a 70,000 square foot building on 96 acres will begin and it will be “recognized as the “home place” to 115 million Cabbage Patch Kids and their adoptive parents worldwide” (Highlights from our history).
 * // The Return of the Dolls //**

//** Analysis **// The day they came out was the day the 80’s was changed. The 80’s shaped them as much as they shaped the 80’s. They were easily the most popular toy and every child wanted one. They had a soft body that appealed to every generation and had cool gimmicks that made children scream, “I want one.” Cabbage Patch Kids appealed to every age. They were bought and resold by greedy adults who wanted to make a profit out of the wants of children. Desperate parents were risking life and limb in their attempts to purchase the Doll to bring home to their wide eyed child. Cabbage Patch Kid Dolls has affected children psychologically, and the way different ethnicities were viewed.

//** Contents **//
 * 1) Ethnicity
 * 2) Psychologically

//** Ethnicity **// Cabbage Patch Kids influenced the racism founded in the United States. They made children feel more inclined to feel less hatred towards another ethnicity. They did that by exposing the children to dolls that looked like them with more than one ethnicity. Before Cabbage Patch Kids came out, dolls were mostly one race. The only race available was Caucasian, and then the Kids came out with African dolls. For the first time in history children were able to buy dolls that were the same ethnicity as themselves. Whitney Houston said,”…children are our future….” Children are indeed our future. Cabbage Patch Kids gave the children dolls that were of different ethnicities and made them the same price. By making them the same price they were saying that no ethnicity is better than the other. Because the Kids were a fad and it was near impossible to buy them in the store, the parents would buy whichever doll they could get their hands on. Therefore a White child could have received a white doll or they could have received a colored doll. By doing so the child was getting use to loving a colored doll and could transfer the instinct of loving a colored doll to a living colored person. Another way that racism was countered by using the Kids was during conventions. At the conventions anybody who adopted a Kid would meet up and spend time with other “parents.” The other “parents” could be any race, any size and shape, but they were bonded with one common interest, their Cabbage Patch Kid. Coleco, the company that owned Cabbage Patch Kids did not make any rules saying that only their White customers would be allowed to adopt the dolls. The only rule was, if you can pay for it, you can get it.

//** Psychologically **// The dolls affected both the adults and children psychologically. Those who were fortunate enough to be able to adopt a doll began to think of the doll as their own child. A prime example of a couple treating a doll like a child would be Joe and Pat Posey. They treat their doll, Kevin, like a real son. Kevin has a 1,000 sq. ft. playroom at the couple’s home, a doll-sized Chevrolet Corvette car, a pet dog, a complete wardrobe and a €2,000 saving fund for college. The couple in fact prefers the doll over their own daughter, Vicky. The couples preferred the doll because the doll could not talk back to them and it did everything the couple wanted it to do. They were not the only people who treated their dolls as a true kid. Another way that the dolls affected people psychologically was through the pledge. The pledge says,”…I solemnly promise to be a good parent to him/her….” Through the pledge the “parents” would learn how to be a good person. They learned how to treat others the way that they would treat their Kid. The pledges made them promise to treat their Kid with respect and give the Kid anything it needs. Since most people would think of their Kid as actual people, they would end up treating others with more kindness and respect as time went on. The dolls also gave the parents a sense of identity. Roberts and his friends made up a "dictionary" of terms in which had a different meaning. For example, "Doll:Little People Babies are most certainly not dolls, and will tell you so themselves every chance they get." In this "dictionary" there was one term ugly that was defined that made others people less inclined to call somebody/ something a derogatory term. "Ugly: Little People have feelings just like anyone else, and are easily hurt...." They could give the dolls clothing that they prefer, which was usually items that were in style. This gave the children a chance to express their style. When children are allowed to express their style without being made fun of they grow in their self-esteem and their confidence becomes stronger and they start believing in themselves more.



Cabbage Patch Kids have changed the 80’s from being a dull place to being a colorful and vibrant place. Cabbage Patch Kids are treasured for their sentimental reasons. They will be remembered with a smile and a fond memory of either a child’s happy star struck face or the first time holding a Cabbage Patch Kid and calling it “mine.”

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