Guy Lochhead, 02/09/10
Created in 1978 by Debbie Morehead and Xavier Roberts as ‘Little People’, the dolls were to turn into one of the biggest craze toys of the eighties. At first, they were all cloth and sold and local craft shows, then later at Babyland General Hospital, Cleveland, Georgia. A newly manufactured Cabbage Patch Kid is welcomed with a sort of birth ceremony, complete with little incubators and possible C- (for cabbage) section. The owner is given an adoption certificate and sent a card on the doll’s first birthday. When they were originally manufactured, each toy was different, and this practice has carried on into their mass production, with subtle differences added in each new run. I have thought about this for an embarrassingly long time, and have decided that I don’t want to include Cabbage Patch Dolls, because their inclusion is unnecessary. I thought it would be cool to work in some stuff about adoption and all that, but I realise there’s not enough substance there for that. Plus, they look horrendous. XAVIER!