/ 16 comments

C: Cabbage Patch Kids

During the Christmas season of 1983, thousands of parents stood in line for hours and often had to dodge fights in the hopes of snagging…

by  Melissa

During the Christmas season of 1983, thousands of parents stood in line for hours and often had to dodge fights in the hopes of snagging the toy that was on every girl’s Christmas list: a Cabbage Patch Kid.

According to the History of Cabbage Patch Kids, “a Cabbage Patch Kids doll was a 16-inch doll, usually with a plastic head, a fabric body, and yarn hair (unless it was bald). What made them so desirable, besides the fact that they were huggable, was both their supposed uniqueness and their adoptability.”

My mom tells the story of how she went to Davie, FL to stand in line for hours waiting for the shipment of Cabbage Patch Kids to come in. Once the shipment came in they went down the line and handed each person one Cabbage Patch Kid. After switching dolls with the woman behind her on Christmas morning I ended up with a dark-haired girl. I wish I could remember her name, but my mind is getting a little fuzzy on some of my childhood memories. They were all given first and last names in their adoption papers and I am pretty sure I still have the papers somewhere.

Here I am on Christmas morning at my grandparent’s house with my Cabbage Patch Kid.

You can still get Cabbage Patch Kids today. I actually saw some on sale at Target. They aren’t the hot ticket item that they used to be, but they are still a great gift for any little girl, or any ’80s fan. I still have both of mine. 🙂

One of the funniest things I’ve seen around the craft community is the crocheted yarn Cabbage Patch hat for babies. It is super funny and adorable and looks exactly like Cabbage Patch Kids hair. You can make your own thanks to Repeat Crafter Me‘s Crochet Cabbage Patch Doll Inspired Hat pattern.

Swing back by tomorrow for the letter “D”.

16 comments

  1. Oh, I remember how excited my sisters and I were when we finally got our Cabbage Patch Kids. My first was a blonde girl named Charity. I'm pretty sure she's still in my mother's house somewhere, along with a ton of clothes my mother made for our dolls.

  2. Oh, I remember how excited my sisters and I were when we finally got our Cabbage Patch Kids. My first was a blonde girl named Charity. I'm pretty sure she's still in my mother's house somewhere, along with a ton of clothes my mother made for our dolls.

  5. I had taken a workshop in making the larger "adoption" dolls a year or so before the craze. It happened that I had designed 2 smaller dolls, one tiny one and one 16 inches, just the size of the cabbage patch doll. I made so many dolls before Christmas that year and made enough money to winterize my family who had recently moved from Mississippi to Missouri. I had boxes of body parts around the room and got all my kids working with me. At some points my sister-in-law came out and joined in. I had so many orders it was Christmas eve before I finished my own children's dolls. My business lasted another few years and then sort of petered out. Good times 🙂 Finding Eliza

  6. I had taken a workshop in making the larger "adoption" dolls a year or so before the craze. It happened that I had designed 2 smaller dolls, one tiny one and one 16 inches, just the size of the cabbage patch doll. I made so many dolls before Christmas that year and made enough money to winterize my family who had recently moved from Mississippi to Missouri. I had boxes of body parts around the room and got all my kids working with me. At some points my sister-in-law came out and joined in. I had so many orders it was Christmas eve before I finished my own children's dolls. My business lasted another few years and then sort of petered out. Good times 🙂 Finding Eliza

  7. I never had one, but I remember them very clearly. Though I had forgotten that they all had their name and coudl be adopted. I do remember they said they were all different.
    Thanks for the memory 🙂

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter – Jazz Age Jazz

  8. I never had one, but I remember them very clearly. Though I had forgotten that they all had their name and coudl be adopted. I do remember they said they were all different.
    Thanks for the memory 🙂

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter – Jazz Age Jazz

  9. I remember the craze of the Cabbage Patch dolls. I didn't have children at the time so we didn't have to wait in line to get such a shipment, but I remember all the reports on the news about them. Neat that you still have yours after all these years!

    good luck with the rest of the challenge!

    betty
    http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.com/

  10. I remember the craze of the Cabbage Patch dolls. I didn't have children at the time so we didn't have to wait in line to get such a shipment, but I remember all the reports on the news about them. Neat that you still have yours after all these years!

    good luck with the rest of the challenge!

    betty
    http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.com/

  11. Whoa these 80s posts are bringing back a lot of memories. I had a Cabbage Patch doll I loved so much, it's in every picture I'm in for about two years. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you post about.

  12. Whoa these 80s posts are bringing back a lot of memories. I had a Cabbage Patch doll I loved so much, it's in every picture I'm in for about two years. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you post about.

  13. Whoa these 80s posts are bringing back a lot of memories. I had a Cabbage Patch doll I loved so much, it's in every picture I'm in for about two years. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you post about.

  14. Whoa these 80s posts are bringing back a lot of memories. I had a Cabbage Patch doll I loved so much, it's in every picture I'm in for about two years. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you post about.

Comments are closed.