Icons In The Beginning...

Sun Herald

Sunday April 2, 2006

By Chris Sheedy

His talent for sewing led an art student to make dolls, each with a unique appearance. When they were put up for "adoption", the world went crazy for Cabbage Patch Kids. By Chris Sheedy.

Growing up in an impoverished area in the mountains of North Georgia, USA, young Xavier Roberts knew he was different from the other children. He was teased at school and by his five elder siblings for his tiny frame but his devoted mother, Eula, would tell her small son that he was unique because he was found in a cabbage patch.

As a child, he began making quilts and on graduating from high school, he enrolled in art college. It was there that he discovered the 19th-century German craft of needle moulding, also known as soft sculpture.

In 1976, the 21-year-old began designing and hand-sewing cloth dolls, each with a unique face. Roberts placed his pudgy offspring on display at the local craft shop and signed each doll's left buttock. He never intended to sell his creations. So, when someone asked to buy one, Roberts replied, "They're not for sale ... but you can adopt one for $30." Suddenly the novice businessman had more orders than he could fill. Leaving college, he began to manufacture what he called Little People and drafted adoption papers and birth certificates and chose names from an old name book.

The dolls' popularity grew and in 1978, Roberts formed Original Appalachian Artworks with five school friends. They rented a disused medical clinic in Cleveland, Georgia, which they renamed Babyland General Hospital. Staff dressed as doctors and nurses and the dolls were even displayed as if in maternity wards.

Soon demand increased to such an extent that Roberts was forced to license the brand. Rejected by Ideal, Tomy and Mattel, he struck a deal with toy company Coleco in 1982. Coleco changed the name from Little People to Cabbage Patch Kids, altered the cloth heads to vinyl and lowered the price from $US125 to $US25. Sales soared and by 1985, Coleco had reached $US600 million in sales.

Xavier Roberts returned to art school to study painting and the Cabbage Patch craze eventually died off. But Babyland General is still open for business and prospective parents can adopt a "kid" for $US275.

Fast facts

1980s Chaos reigns in shops at Christmas as parents scramble to adopt a "baby". Scalpers "re-adopt" dolls for $US2000.

1983 A Cabbage Patch Kid appears on the cover of Newsweek magazine.

1985 "Christopher Xavier" becomes the first Cabbage Patch Kid to go into space.

1988 Coleco files for bankruptcy. Hasbro, and later Mattel, buys the rights to the dolls.

1992 Cabbage Patch Kids are the official mascot of the US Olympic team in Barcelona.

2006 Pre-Cabbage Patch Xavier Roberts originals fetch more than $1000 on eBay.