Monday, March 29, 2021

Cabbage Patch Kids

       Cabbage Patch Kids dolls are a line of one-of-a-kind, cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles and registered in the United States copyright office in 1978 as 'The Little People'. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage Patch Kids' by Roger L. Schlaifer when he acquired the exclusive worldwide licensing rights in 1982.

       The new doll brand set every toy industry sales record for three years running, and was one of the most popular lines of children’s licensed products in the 1980s and has become one of the longest-running doll franchises in the United States. The characters and graphics created by Schlaifer and developed by his company, Schlaifer Nance & Company, (SN&C), were used on all Cabbage Patch products: ranging from children’s apparel, bedding, infants wear to record albums and board games.

Cabbage Patch Kids sold by JCPenny in 1986

photo of Babyland by Michael River

       Babyland General Hospital is the "birthplace" of Little People and is located in Cleveland, Georgia. With the help of local friends, Roberts converted an old doctor's clinic into a general store/souvenir shop and "doll hospital" from which to sell his original "Little People". The facility is presented as a birthing, nursery, and adoption center for the Cabbage Patch Kids. In accordance with the theme, employees dressed and pretended to be doctors and nurses caring for the dolls as if they were real. Babyland General moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Cleveland, Georgia in 2010 and has been voted one of the Travel Channel's top 10 toylands– though its actual rank and who are the other nine, is a mystery.


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