1 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 1: VCRs leather coats cigarettes in the nineteen eighties. If it 2 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: somehow finds its way off a truck, the five families 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: of the New York Mafia will find a way to 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: make money on it. 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 2: Well, here's what happens. 6 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 3: As hijackers, we weren't known as hijackets, Like we will 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 3: go steal the trucks, but lower level criminals would go 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 3: probably hijacket truck. 9 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: That's Larry Matza, a former associate of the Colombo crime family. 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: We're not going to get into all the colorful details 11 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: of Larry's exploits. It's probably enough to just tell you 12 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: that his boss was nicknamed the Grim Reaper. 13 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 3: It could be anything from liquor to you know, pvs, 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 3: and we had, you know, the back of the club 15 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 3: looked like a crazy eddy warehouse at plans with just 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 3: you know, stereos and things like that. 17 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: The club Larry is referring to is his boss's social 18 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: hangout where wise guys convene to talk shop. But during 19 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighty three holiday season, their inventory is a 20 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: wash in another kind of contraband. 21 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 2: Well, yeah, we knew the capush tracks dolls. 22 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: The walls of the Grim Reaper's office is stocked floor 23 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: to ceiling with Cabbage Patch Kids, the smiling, stuffed dolls 24 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: with an adoption marketing gimmick that have become the most 25 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: coveted gift of the year, maybe even the century. 26 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 3: We knew they were popular, and we didn't go steal them, 27 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 3: like I said, but we had somebody bring us a 28 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 3: large truckload and I'm not talking a lot of track, the 29 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 3: trailer truckload of these cabbage Patch dolls. And we probably 30 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 3: sold them in less than a week, thousands of them, 31 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 3: you know, because people were just going crazy for them. 32 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: The demand for these odd looking little dolls is such 33 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: that violence is breaking out. Strangely enough, it isn't organized 34 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:13,399 Speaker 1: crime that's responsible. Its parents kicking, punching, and clawing their 35 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: way through store aisles, reduced to their most primitive impulses 36 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: to score one of the elusive kids for their children. 37 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: So what exactly was in the air or the culture 38 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,119 Speaker 1: that turned toy stores into fight clubs and the mafia 39 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 1: into a doll dealership, and what happens when the owners 40 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:44,079 Speaker 1: of the dolls grow up? Welcome to very special episodes 41 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: and Iheart's original podcast. I'm your host Danas Schwartz and 42 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: this is the cabbage Patch Crisis. 43 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 4: Welcome back to very special episodes. I'm Jason English. I 44 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 4: am usually joined at the top by Dana Schwartz and 45 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 4: Zaren Burnett. Dana is going to be here in just 46 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 4: a second. I just wanted to start by acknowledging that 47 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 4: we lost a friend of the show this week with 48 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 4: the tragic murders of Rob and Michelle Reiner. If you remember, 49 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 4: last summer, Rob was our guest on an episode about 50 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 4: the summer that John F. Kennedy spent as a journalist, 51 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 4: kind of a forgotten period in his history that Rob 52 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 4: helped color in. I got to work with both Rob 53 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 4: and Michelle on their podcast about the JFK assassination who 54 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 4: killed JFK? And I just wanted to share how wonderful 55 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 4: they were to all of us. Rob would ask about 56 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 4: our kids, He'd want to know where we grew up. 57 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 4: He was as good on a zoom with three people 58 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 4: as he was on any talk show. I left every 59 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 4: interaction just thinking like, Wow, he was way cooler. So 60 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 4: then he really needs to be just hopping on to 61 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 4: talk JFK with us on this show, which he absolutely 62 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,119 Speaker 4: did not need to do. He offered to do it well, 63 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 4: still on vacation overseas. I remember we were working on 64 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 4: trying to find a time that would work for everybody. 65 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 4: He had been developing another podcast with us. We were 66 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 4: supposed to have the kickoff meeting literally today, Wednesday, December seventeenth. 67 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 4: It's it's kind of surreal. It's still on my calendar. 68 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 4: And look, there were a million people who were a 69 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 4: lot closer to him than me. I was a work 70 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 4: acquaintance at best. But I just today feel compelled to 71 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 4: say how much I'm going to miss getting to work 72 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 4: with him, and how Grady was to all of us, 73 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 4: and we're going to miss him. 74 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: Kids are materialists. Try as we might to teach them 75 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 1: the true meaning of the holiday season, goodwill toward others, 76 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: charitable endeavors, or at least shoveling the driveway, they're often 77 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: happiest when they unwrap the big gift, a Nintendo, a bike, 78 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: a pair of headphones. In nineteen eighty Three's a Christmas Story, 79 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: little Ralphie was desperate to get a Red Rider baby 80 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: gun lest his entire world collapse. The concept of a 81 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: hot toy everyone wants isn't a new phenomenon in the 82 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, people went crazy for Shirley Temple dolls. The 83 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: child actress with a halo of blonde curls was one 84 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: of the most popular movie stars of the era. The 85 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: toy company Ideal sold an astounding one point five million 86 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: of them in nineteen thirty five, right in the middle 87 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: of the Great Depression. A couple of decades later, Barbie 88 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: arrived on the scene with her endless accessories. If you're 89 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: a child of the nineteen eighty you had an abundance 90 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: of options Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears or Baby Alive. Each year, 91 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: Kenner sold a million of those dolls, which ate and 92 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: filled their own diapers, just like a real infant. But 93 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: the dull success story of the century doesn't start with 94 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: a massive toy company, a movie star, or any special features. 95 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: It starts with an artist named Xavier Roberts and his 96 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: line of one of a kind dolls that some people 97 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: found well, let's just say, unconventionally attractive. 98 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 5: Here she shocked me with a little person named Lavinia 99 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 5: Merle that was in a box that we were wrapping 100 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 5: for my daughter's Christmas present. 101 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: That's Roger Schlafer. In the nineteen eighties, Roger is a licenser. 102 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: His business is tracking down products that had potential in retail, 103 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,280 Speaker 1: sort of like a talent scout for inanimate objects. It's 104 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: Roger's wife who introduces him to Xavier's creation, which she 105 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: had bought as a gift. It's an auspicious beginning. 106 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 5: And I opened it up and I was shocked to say, 107 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 5: this really ugly dolls staring up at me. 108 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: Xavier's handcrafted dolls, which he called little People, are rendered 109 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: in what's known as soft sculpture. That's where an artist 110 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: tugs and stitches fabric to create physical features like smiles, dimples, toes, 111 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: and fingers. They have yarn for hair and Xavier's distinctive 112 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: signature stitched into their rumps. Roberts is a kind of 113 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: Etsy sellar before Etsy, hand crafting dolls for a growing fanbase, 114 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: devoted enough to make pilgrimages to Babyland General in Cleveland, Georgia, 115 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: a delightfully kitchy doll hospital where babies are said to 116 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: be born from an actual cabbage patch, complete with nurses, 117 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:12,239 Speaker 1: delivery rooms, and an earnest adoption ceremony that feels half 118 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 1: performance art, half country fair. It's worth noting that the 119 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: idea of adoptable soft sculpture dolls wasn't exactly original to Xavier. 120 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: A Kentucky artist named Martha Nelson Thomas had sold similar 121 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: creations she named doll Babies at a gift shop operated 122 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: by Xavier Roberts years prior. Martha later sued him, alleging 123 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: he had adopted her idea without permission. The two settled 124 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: out of court, with Roberts admitting he was inspired by 125 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: Thomas's work. That debate over their origins aside, Xavier Roberts 126 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: is doing very well with these distinctive dolls, selling them 127 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: one at a time. Roger sees the bigger picture. Rather 128 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: than craft them by hand, he envisions a process by 129 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: which the little people can be mass manufactured while still 130 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: retaining their unique handcrafted appeal. 131 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 5: So every doll would be different. It would be the 132 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 5: first mass marketed one of a kind doll. Every head 133 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 5: would have different eye color, some would have freckles, some wooden, 134 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 5: some would have dimples, some wooden. The hair color would vary, 135 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 5: and of course there are countless hair color and eye 136 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 5: color possibilities, and hair style would be different, and they'd 137 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 5: be dressed differently. And that was like one of the 138 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 5: biggest things in the history of the toy business, the 139 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 5: first one of a kind doll, and it was done 140 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 5: at the most affordable price imaginable. 141 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: Unlike Roberts dolls, which could sell for hundreds, Roger's version 142 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: will retail for just twenty eight bucks. But he has 143 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: one immediate problem. The name Little People is already taken. 144 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 5: And then they discovered that Fisher Price own the name, 145 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 5: so basically they had nothing to license. In fact, their 146 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 5: lawyer at the time the fell named Bill Needle, said 147 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 5: I don't see what you're going to license, and I 148 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 5: told him, by the time I'm done, you'll see. 149 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: Instead, Roger comes up with the name cabbage Patch Kids, 150 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: after the folk tale of babies emerging from a cabbage 151 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: patch rather than being dropped off by a stork. Armed 152 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: with a deal with Xavier Roberts, Roger finds a willing 153 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: partner in Calco. It's not a name you hear much 154 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: about these days, but back in the nineteen eighties, Kaliko 155 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 1: was doing well thanks to its video game system, Kaliko Vision, 156 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: and other electronic toys. They weren't particularly known for dolls, 157 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: but they shared Roger's vision for what the cabbage Patch 158 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: Kids could be. They agree to manufacture and distribute these 159 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: sixteen inch tall dolls, complete with adoption papers. In a 160 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: clever bit of marketing, they're packaged in a sea through 161 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: box with their arms reaching out as though they're pleading 162 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: for a hug, begging to be freed from their cardboard 163 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: and plastic prison. Calico's Cabbage Patch Kids debut at the 164 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three Toy Fair, the annual parade of plastic 165 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: is where manufacturers try to wow retail chains like Toys 166 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: r Us or Kymart into placing giant orders. The Kids 167 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: arrived with a tailwind. Word has already spread from a 168 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: Canadian toy show that these dolls were the must see item. 169 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 5: What the a brilliant market or for Kalico did. They 170 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 5: had a two hundred thousand square foot facility in Quebec 171 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 5: and they rebuilt an adoption center in the center of 172 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 5: the facility and they hadaa fly up three or four 173 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 5: of their cutest nurses because they were dressed like nurses, 174 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 5: and the nurses were the ones who took the buyers. 175 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: Throughaa is Xavier's company, Original Appalachian Artworks. 176 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 5: So before the International Toy Fair even opened, every major 177 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 5: toy buyer in the world had heard that the most 178 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 5: exciting thing in the Canadian toy fair bar Nun was 179 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 5: cabbage Patch Kids. So almost on opening day in February 180 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,680 Speaker 5: nineteen eighty three, every doll was on consignment and Kalico 181 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 5: was demanding cash up front for whomever wanted them. 182 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,680 Speaker 1: But Kalico isn't going to rely on word of mouth. 183 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 1: As early as June, the company begins an extensive advertising 184 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: campaign on television and in print. 185 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 5: Well it started the middle of June. We introduced in 186 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 5: New York and again there were some great marketers at 187 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 5: Calico in the New York market. The week of the 188 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 5: introduction they ran a full page ad adopted Cabbage Patch 189 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 5: Kid doll in the New York Times, and they ran 190 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 5: spot TV with some really great commercials in the Tri 191 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 5: State area. So kids were pumped up. They were asking 192 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 5: their mother, even though it was off season, to get 193 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 5: them a Cabbage Patch Kid. And part of the deal 194 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 5: for the introduction was Macy's had agreed to give a 195 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 5: thirty fourth Street positioning of the Cabbage Patch Kids on 196 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 5: thirty fourth Street, which had tens of thousands of people 197 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 5: walking by every day. 198 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: Buzz is building around the kids. But stores actually do 199 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: the opposite of what you'd expect. Instead of jacking the 200 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: price up, they begin marking them down. They realize if 201 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: people are coming for the cabbage patch kids, they'll spend 202 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: money elsewhere in the store too. 203 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 5: And instead of the dollars being twenty eight dollars, and 204 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 5: this is a big part of it, every mass mortionon 205 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 5: in the country was selling them for what they were paying, 206 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 5: which could have been eighteen or twenty dollars. So in 207 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 5: a year with a terrible economy, parents, fathers, mothers, aunt's, uncles, whatever, 208 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 5: could be a hero for twenty bucks if they could 209 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 5: get a hand on one. And the riot somehow, the 210 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 5: notion of that spread around the country. 211 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: Come the fall of nineteen eighty three, all any kid wants, 212 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: boy or girl is a cabbage patch doll, and all 213 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: any parent wants is to make their kid happy. That 214 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: proves to be a very combustible combination, and. 215 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 5: The crowds were just literally fighting for dolls. 216 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: At a Zayer store in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, a panicked 217 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: manager climbs onto a counter wielding a baseball bat, hoping 218 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: to hold off a mob of roughly one thousand people. 219 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: He has good reason to be afraid. One woman is 220 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: swallowed up by the crush of bodies and is trampled. 221 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: She's wheeled out of the store with a broken leg. 222 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: Four other shoppers also wind up in the hospital. In 223 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: West Virginia, five thousand people storm a Hills department store 224 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: Like soldiers on the beaches of Normandy. Tables are toppled 225 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: as shoppers practically hurl themselves through the air matrix style, 226 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: only to discover there are only one hundred and twenty 227 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: dollars to go around. Elsewhere, people line up for hours 228 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: in the bitter cold, sprint into stores at opening and 229 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: find the shelves empty. That's when fists start flying. Grown 230 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: adults rip dolls out of shopping carts and out of 231 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 1: children's arms. When police are called and restore order, some 232 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: desperate customers start fighting them too. Naturally, all this parent 233 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: on parent violence attracts the media. News crews park outside 234 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: of toy stores. Newspapers run breathless coverage of cabbage patch riots. 235 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: It becomes a feedback loop the dolls in demand. That 236 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: demand leads to fights. The fight's goose media coverage, which 237 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: ratchets up demand, which leads to more violence. Calico is 238 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: both delighted and blindsided. They charter jets to fly in 239 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: two hundred thousand cabbage patch dolls from Hong Kong each 240 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: week to keep up. They even pull their TV ads 241 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: after parents and consumer affairs advocates complain that they're promoting 242 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: a product that very few can actually buy. In a 243 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: classic conspiracy theory, some even allege Kaliko is holding back 244 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: inventory on purpose. Stores begin taking extreme measures to cope 245 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: with the demand. One in Lawrence, Kansas, keeps its limited 246 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: stock locked in a bank vault and holds a lottery 247 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: to draw winners. Others admit entrance to only ten customers 248 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: at a time, reducing the chances of bloodied noses. At 249 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: least one store hires a full time employee just to 250 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,399 Speaker 1: answer the phone and say we have no Cabbage Patch 251 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:01,880 Speaker 1: kids in stock. A Woolworth's in Jack's County, Florida games 252 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: it up. They announce over the loudspeaker that there is 253 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: one doll hidden somewhere in the store, unleashing a frantic 254 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: treasure hunt. Boscovs has the most brazen idea of all 255 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: selling vouchers that entitle the bearer to a doll whenever 256 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: stock gets replenished, which they hope will be the following April. 257 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:32,159 Speaker 1: Just what every kid wants for Christmas, a coupon. The 258 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: mania gets so out of hand that Time and Newsweek 259 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: scrutinize it. Johnny Carson makes jokes on The Tonight Show 260 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: not even the White House can navigate what has become 261 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 1: the most frenzied and violent holiday toy season in history. First, 262 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,840 Speaker 1: Lady Nancy Reagan makes it known she wants two dolls 263 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: to give to a pair of Korean children awaiting surgery 264 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: in the US Khalico. Initially, he tells her they don't 265 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: have any to give. They relent only when the media 266 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: picks up the story. Children do want other toys, like 267 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: the newly released Mister t doll, but nothing else triggers 268 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 1: the same full blown elbows out chaos as the kids 269 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,679 Speaker 1: in a Bleak punchline. The Wall Street Journal reports a 270 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: poll where people say they're more anxious about getting a 271 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: doll than about nuclear annihilation. By the fall of nineteen 272 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:38,160 Speaker 1: eighty three, cabbage patch kids are no longer just toys. 273 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: They're a kind of currency, something parents, retailers, and as 274 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: we heard even the mob can use to prove their connected, 275 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,880 Speaker 1: powerful or just lucky. Here's Larry Matsa again. 276 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 3: I tell my five guys, you could take the dolls 277 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 3: for twenty five dollars and they'll go sell them for fifty. 278 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,959 Speaker 3: So you know, we were known for that, you know, 279 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 3: for these different things. People would come and the men 280 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 3: would go out and have their people word of mouth. 281 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 3: Before you know it, I mean, coops were coming in 282 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 3: buying cabbage patch dolls for their family. 283 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: Unfortunately or fortunately not everyone could turn to the mafia 284 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: for their dollphis. But they weren't the only opportunists during 285 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 1: the cabbage crisis, which is how across town several lawyers 286 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: and a judge find themselves in a courtroom in a 287 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: heated discussion over doll butts. In November nineteen eighty three, 288 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:50,360 Speaker 1: Customs officials in San Francisco, California are facing a serious problem. 289 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: In front of them are twelve thousand soft sculpture dolls 290 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: with cute faces and tiny Vinyl sneakers. But these aren't 291 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: Cabbage Patch kids. They're flower kids. A near identical doll 292 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: being shipped from Hong Kong to cash in on the 293 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: insatiable demand calico created customs agents don't know quite what 294 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: to do. Are the Flower Kids simply shameless knockoffs or 295 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,640 Speaker 1: counterfeit babies that need to be seized like illicit contraband 296 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: At the height of cabbage Mania, this wasn't an unusual occurrence. 297 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: For a period of time. In nineteen eighty three, Kaliko 298 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: and Xavier Roberts were both busy trying to swat off 299 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: the endless copycat products popping up to meet the demand. 300 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,360 Speaker 1: Everyone wanted a doll, well almost everyone. 301 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,399 Speaker 3: I never collected to buy a doll. I didn't have 302 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 3: a kid or sibling in that universe. 303 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: That's Paul Friedland. At the time, Paul was a junior 304 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 1: lawyer at a New York firm with satellite office in 305 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: Hong Kong. They'd been enlisted by the Blue Box Toy Factory, 306 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: the US distribution arm of the Flower Kids, to fight 307 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: a lawsuit brought by Xavier Roberts. The suit alleged the 308 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:20,360 Speaker 1: Flower Kids were cute little copyright infringers. The problem there 309 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:21,880 Speaker 1: wasn't much time to prepare. 310 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 2: It was a phone call from Hong Kong. 311 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,199 Speaker 3: Morning in Hong Kong, and it was evening in New 312 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 3: York and it's someone had to go down to court 313 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 3: the next morning to defend flower Kids, and I, as 314 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 3: a junior associate, was one of the only people in 315 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 3: the office. 316 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,120 Speaker 1: If the flower Kids are permitted to be sold, it's 317 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: only fair they'd be made available in time for the 318 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,479 Speaker 1: holiday shopping season. There are only a few more weeks 319 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: until Christmas. The opposing parties and the judge would have 320 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: to arrive at a conclusion quickly. 321 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,400 Speaker 3: So I defended our ferb and I was the advocate 322 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 3: defended the Flower Kids from the clean that it was 323 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,960 Speaker 3: an infringement and a knockof fan Well, it was a knockoff, 324 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 3: but that wasn't a point the question whether it was 325 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 3: confusing people. 326 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,399 Speaker 1: Things get off to a shaky start. The district court 327 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: Judge Abraham Sofair takes a look at the six Cabbage 328 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: Patch dolls and the one Flower Kids doll and then 329 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: loudly asks which is which. But Paul and his team 330 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:34,360 Speaker 1: argue the Flower Kids are different enough. There's no adoption 331 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 1: gimmick with these dolls. Physically, the Cabbage dolls have removable shoes, 332 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:45,479 Speaker 1: the flower Kids don't. The cabbages have recessed chins and 333 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 1: dimpled knees. Diapers and a belly button. The Flower Kids 334 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: have none of those. In the most striking exchange of 335 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: the case, Paul declares his client's dolls are also missing 336 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: one key feature. 337 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 2: They don't have a cute tosh. 338 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 1: There's really no other way to say this. The Flower 339 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: Kids are missing a butt crack, a distinctive signature feature 340 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: of Klico's cabbage Patch Kids, and Paul argues the Flower 341 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,480 Speaker 1: Kids were, on the whole, not as homely as the 342 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: legit cabbage Patch Kids. In response, Xavier's team introduces a 343 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: hastily collected bit of evidence. They pulled shoppers at them all, 344 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: ushering them into a spare room and asking them if 345 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: they could identify the doll sitting in front of them. 346 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,640 Speaker 1: Sixty four percent answered that it was likely a cabbage 347 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: Patch doll, but it was actually a Flower kid, reinforcing 348 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 1: the idea of consumer confusion. Rather than risk the danger 349 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:57,359 Speaker 1: of harboring unguarded Cabbage Patch and Flower kids, Judge so 350 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: Fair alects to keep the valuable locked in his chambers 351 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,119 Speaker 1: when court adjourns for the day. Maybe he wanted time 352 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,400 Speaker 1: alone with them to study their unblinking eyes for any 353 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,680 Speaker 1: hint of guilt. Or innocence. In the end, the judge 354 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: sides with Blue Box. The Flower Kids, he reasoned, could 355 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: not reliably be confused for the Cabbage Patch Kids. Though 356 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,400 Speaker 1: they did look similar, so did a lot of dolls 357 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: that pole in the mall. It didn't prove much because 358 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 1: the doll lacked the distinctive Cabbage Patch packaging. Most importantly, 359 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: he Judge so Fair argues, the sheer demand for the 360 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: Cabbage Patch Kids actually reduces the chance for confusion. If 361 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:50,199 Speaker 1: a parent brought home a cabbage bootleg, he reasoned, the 362 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: child would recognize the fake instantly and be devastated. It 363 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: was the overriding fear of disappointing their kids that convinced 364 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: the judge that the Flower Kids posed no existential or 365 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: commercial threat to Calico. He denies the request for an injunction. Soon, 366 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of Flower Kids are filling store shelves. 367 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: A desperate enough parent can pick up a Flower Kid 368 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:25,360 Speaker 1: or any number of other copycat products like lettuce leaf babies, 369 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: which are just nylon stockings stuffed with some polyester. You 370 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,439 Speaker 1: could look to the classifieds, where some people sold the 371 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: kids at a steep markup, or you could do what 372 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: Edward Pennington did and go to some pretty extreme measures. 373 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: Edward Pennington is a male carrier living in Shawnee, Kansas, 374 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: during that fraught holiday season. Like a lot of dads, 375 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: his daughter, five year old Lena, wants a cabbage Patch 376 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: kid more than anything else in the world. Give Lena 377 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: a choice between world peace and a doll with a 378 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 1: copyright protected cute tush, and Lina would probably pick the 379 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: doll every time. 380 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 6: Yep, I came home and told my parents that I 381 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:16,120 Speaker 6: wanted a cabbage Patch doll. 382 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 1: That's Lena. She understands the cabbage Patch frenzy now, but 383 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:25,200 Speaker 1: at the time she didn't really grasp how wild things 384 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: had gotten in the aisles of American department stores. 385 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 6: At the time. No, I had no idea. The fact 386 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 6: that people were going absolutely and saying over these dolls, 387 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 6: and parents were going crazy trying to get these dolls 388 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,239 Speaker 6: for their kids at the time was not even in 389 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:42,919 Speaker 6: my mind. 390 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: All she knew was that the dolls were a kind 391 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:52,719 Speaker 1: of magic babies with names, documentation, personalities. Surely her parents 392 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: would come through, but in Kansas, like everywhere else, the 393 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: dolls were impossible to find. Then Lena's mother, Maggie hears 394 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: an intriguing report on the local news. 395 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 6: She heard on the news that the only place that 396 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 6: they would be found they weren't here in the States, 397 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 6: but they find the dolls in London. 398 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:19,360 Speaker 1: That wouldn't help most parents, but the Penningtons have an 399 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,879 Speaker 1: ace up their sleeve. Maggie is a flight attendant. That 400 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: means perks like being able to score cheap airline tickets. 401 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: So in early December, Edward takes a vacation from the 402 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: post office and flies thousands of miles to London. He's 403 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: greeted at Heathrow by reporters from the London Daily Star. 404 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: The paper has promised to secure him five of the 405 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 1: dolls in exchange for an exclusive interview. It all feels 406 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: a little like a spy handoff. He's escorted to a 407 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: vehicle in the airport parking lot where the reporters have 408 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 1: snashed their cabbage patch can Back home, Lena cannot believe 409 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:04,959 Speaker 1: what she was seeing. 410 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 6: He came back with five cabbage Batch dolls. 411 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: She gets to choose two. 412 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 6: Oh, I mean completely ecstatic and shocked. You're gonna bring 413 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 6: me to tears, but I knew my family would come 414 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 6: through like it was an amazing feeling that like literally 415 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 6: is bringing me to tears right now. 416 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: Edward gives one doll to the local newspaper that helped 417 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: connect him to the journalists in London. While he could 418 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: have easily sold the remaining two at a significant markup, 419 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,479 Speaker 1: he instead donates one to the Children's Mercy Hospital and 420 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,160 Speaker 1: the other to the local TV station where Maggie first 421 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: heard the news. Edward's trip becomes another cabbage patch story, 422 00:29:56,320 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: though one that appeals to our better angels. Touches down 423 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,000 Speaker 1: from London and is whisked off for an interview on 424 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: Nightline with Ted Copple. 425 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 6: When he was flying back to Kansas City. He actually 426 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 6: got pretty tipsy off of Remy Martin, and when we 427 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 6: found out we were going to be on Nightline with 428 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 6: Ted couple, they had to quickly sober my dad up 429 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 6: for the interview. So my dad was absolutely amazing. He 430 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 6: had an amazing personality. He was just a cool cat, 431 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 6: you know. 432 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: But not everyone is captivated by the story. A Toronto 433 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: Star columnist argued that Edward Pennington's mission set up an 434 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:46,960 Speaker 1: impossible standard. Most parents couldn't hop continents on short notice. 435 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,719 Speaker 1: They had to hope they'd get lucky and find a 436 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,720 Speaker 1: cabbage patch kid in stock, all while ducking an uppercut 437 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: from a rival shopper. And the cabbage patch craze was 438 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: sparking more than just pressure. The adoption gimmick, birth certificates, paperwork, 439 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:09,680 Speaker 1: the annual birthday card was raising hackles among adoption advocates. 440 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: They argued that the concept trivialized real adoptions. Others worried 441 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: that presenting these dolls as ugly but adoptable sent a 442 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: damaging message to actual adopted kids that they were the 443 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: product of a low tier vegetable. It's hard to say 444 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: how much the adoption gimmick actually influenced kids, but Roger 445 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: Schlaefer insists the craze wasn't driven by that marketing hook alone. 446 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 5: When they were little people, when people would go to 447 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 5: Babyland General or one of the adoption centers, they would 448 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 5: go through the adoption and there would be that ritual. 449 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:54,560 Speaker 5: But that was so secondary, I mean, that was neat. 450 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 5: And the press picked up on the gimmick. This was 451 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 5: the first on mechanical, non electronic gimmick. It was a 452 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 5: piece of paper. But if you think of the riots, 453 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 5: you have to say, well, nobody was adopting them. Then 454 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 5: and parents they were. When the kids opened the present, 455 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 5: weather it was a birthday or for Christmas, they were thrilled. 456 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 5: They weren't, you know, the adoption really didn't mean anything, 457 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 5: but they got one. It had its own name. 458 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: By the end of nineteen eighty three, Calico had sold 459 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: between two point five and three million Cabbage Patch Kids, 460 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: breaking the record setting sales of the poop producing Baby Alive. 461 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:43,240 Speaker 1: It had become the most successful doll launch in toy history. 462 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: By nineteen eighty four, the kids were in twenty million 463 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: homes with an array of tie in merch. 464 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 5: Bedding and children's apparel, doing whole lines of clothes, not 465 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 5: just t shirts, but lunchboxes and dollar accessories. They were 466 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 5: all set up, so by the end of nineteen eighty 467 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 5: three they were already in production. And in nineteen eighty four, 468 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 5: when we hit an all time record of two billion 469 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 5: dollars in retail sales, two thirds of that was non dollars. 470 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: There was even a low sugar Cabbage Patch Kids Cereal, 471 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: though it was not a big hit. By the mid 472 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,600 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties, cabbage mania was waning, and not because of 473 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: the cereal Khaliko, which had once struggled to make enough 474 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: dolls began making too many. The company went from boom 475 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: to bust, and during bankruptcy proceedings after betting too heavily 476 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: on their personal computing products, not even getting the toy 477 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: license for Rambo could save them. And that seemingly was 478 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: that the kids faded into a kind of toy obscurity 479 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: destined for future nostalgia think pieces online and eBay auctions 480 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: shelves were cleared to make way for the next hot toy. 481 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 1: Consumers bought game boys and tickle me elmos, brats, dolls, 482 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:22,840 Speaker 1: and furbies. But unlike most of these types of fads, 483 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: the kids were about to have a second act. In 484 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,920 Speaker 1: a weird twist, these dolls were going to get more 485 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 1: care and attention than they ever had before. Abrasion remembers 486 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 1: her first cabbage Patch kid, well, her first cabbage patch 487 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:51,439 Speaker 1: knockoff kid. 488 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 7: And I actually had a fake one at first that 489 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,920 Speaker 7: my parents bought me at like a local festival, and 490 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,799 Speaker 7: I loved her, but she was fake and my friends 491 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:03,919 Speaker 7: would be like, oh, she's fake. 492 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 1: Having a phony cabbage Patch kid was socially unacceptable. Fortunately, 493 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:15,080 Speaker 1: for Christmas nineteen eighty four, Abra got her first real kid. 494 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:19,400 Speaker 1: Like millions of other eighties children, cabbage Patch kids weren't 495 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:24,960 Speaker 1: just toys. They were tiny, manageable relationships. They engendered a 496 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 1: feeling of nurturing and satisfied a need to be needed. 497 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 7: I just felt like these, to me, somehow, were like 498 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:35,799 Speaker 7: real babies that I needed to take care of, that 499 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 7: I wanted to take care of. They were just adorable 500 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:39,400 Speaker 7: and they were just so cute. 501 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:43,920 Speaker 1: Of course, Abra got older and her cabbage Patch kids 502 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: were relegated to the metaphorical box of things from childhood. 503 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,439 Speaker 1: But a few years ago, in her forties, Abra came 504 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 1: to a realization the kids still meant something, just a 505 00:35:57,880 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: different something. 506 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 7: Just bringing back some of my innocence and tying in 507 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 7: not just Cabbage Patch kids, but also just the whole, 508 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,600 Speaker 7: you know, eighties and gen X kind of thing somehow 509 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:14,880 Speaker 7: brings me comfort. I feel like things were more innocent 510 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 7: back then. 511 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 1: It was around this time that Abra discovered a Cabbage 512 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: Patch Kids group on Facebook. This isn't the official group, 513 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: but a looser, more convevial gathering of mostly adults who 514 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 1: have maintained or rediscovered a strong emotional bond with their kid, 515 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: Virtually strolling through the group is a fascinating experience. While 516 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:45,279 Speaker 1: nostalgia is part of it, there's something else going on. 517 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: A lot of the discussion revolves around the restoration of kids, 518 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: whom they affectionately call Cabbies. Time can be unkind to 519 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:02,240 Speaker 1: mass produced toys, and the plastic heads of the dolls 520 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:07,960 Speaker 1: can develop what devotees referred to as pocks. Abra's doll 521 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:12,239 Speaker 1: had them too, little black spots embedded in their once 522 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: flawless skin. 523 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,600 Speaker 7: Hers is mostly on her scalp, which I was able 524 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:19,440 Speaker 7: to cover with the hair. From what I understand, it's 525 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:24,360 Speaker 7: a deterioration in the plastic and from improper storage or 526 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:28,800 Speaker 7: being you know in like locked away in basements or attics. 527 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,760 Speaker 1: There are a number of home remedies to ward off 528 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:33,520 Speaker 1: the pox. 529 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,359 Speaker 7: I did follow some treatments where you literally use ZiT 530 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 7: cream some you know, oxy nine, oxy ten, whatever, you know, 531 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,560 Speaker 7: the oxy ZiT creams called, and you apply it and 532 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 7: you wrap their their heads in cellophane and you just 533 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:53,880 Speaker 7: let them sit out in the sun and enlightens it 534 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:55,160 Speaker 7: a little. 535 00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,719 Speaker 1: Like other adoptive Cabby parents, Abra has to deal with 536 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 1: and disheveled dolls encrusted with filth from decades of neglect. 537 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,440 Speaker 7: The other thing is their bodies sometimes are really stained. 538 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,120 Speaker 7: I soak them in. I have a little basin and 539 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 7: fill it with hot water and some oxy clean along 540 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:19,879 Speaker 7: with a little bit of dawn soap, and I let 541 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 7: them soak. 542 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:25,640 Speaker 1: Some like to restore cavvies to their original condition and 543 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 1: clothing when possible. Others like Abra are into using the 544 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:34,640 Speaker 1: kids as a blank canvas to fill in with touchstones 545 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:35,520 Speaker 1: of their youth. 546 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:39,160 Speaker 7: I completely re rooted her and cleaned her up, and 547 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,720 Speaker 7: I made her into Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz, 548 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 7: which is a favorite movie of mine growing up. You know, 549 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:50,080 Speaker 7: in the eighties, it would come on TV once a year, 550 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:53,040 Speaker 7: and you know, I'd stamp and watch it. When I'm 551 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,560 Speaker 7: restoring them, I'm making them into something that reminds me 552 00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:57,440 Speaker 7: of my childhood. 553 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,360 Speaker 1: If you take a closer look at the Facebook group, 554 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:05,440 Speaker 1: you'll find something else happening, something a little deeper. Not 555 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: long ago, Abra posted a question was anyone else using 556 00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:13,480 Speaker 1: their cabbage patch kid as a way to deal with 557 00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:15,280 Speaker 1: unprocessed trauma. 558 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,920 Speaker 7: I started noticing that pattern on the group, that a 559 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 7: lot of people were all kind of like around the 560 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,400 Speaker 7: same age. We're all you know gen X, you know, 561 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:25,839 Speaker 7: we all seem to be the majority of us from 562 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 7: age forty five to fifty five. I was a little 563 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:31,239 Speaker 7: scared to ask it first, but I said, hey, you know, 564 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,960 Speaker 7: why not? And I went ahead and I just said, hey, 565 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,319 Speaker 7: you know, you don't have to tell me what it is. 566 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,440 Speaker 7: And some people started revealing what their trauma was. I 567 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,560 Speaker 7: just was curious, or are a lot of you guys, 568 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:46,239 Speaker 7: you know are did you have childhood trauma? Did you 569 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,160 Speaker 7: have something? And you know this is why you got 570 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:52,680 Speaker 7: back into collecting. And that opened up that discussion, which 571 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,239 Speaker 7: was really interesting, and I resonated with. 572 00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:01,040 Speaker 1: Their responses came quickly, Yes, people said, and caring for 573 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:06,640 Speaker 1: the kids helped them navigate certain emotional issues, from childhood 574 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:10,279 Speaker 1: abuse to illness to being unable to bear children of 575 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: their own. For abra Her, cabbies are a way of 576 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,960 Speaker 1: reconnecting with something that provided solace as a child when 577 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:20,560 Speaker 1: her world was in upheaval. 578 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:23,080 Speaker 7: As a child, I didn't know how divorce worked, and 579 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:27,560 Speaker 7: I remember just being at school like just stomach ache 580 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:29,640 Speaker 7: all day because I was so afraid I was going 581 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:33,480 Speaker 7: to come home and find my parents divorced and So 582 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:36,160 Speaker 7: these cabbage batch kids, they were something I could go 583 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,520 Speaker 7: to my room and just play with and take care 584 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:42,360 Speaker 7: of and dress them up. They were a safe haven 585 00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,160 Speaker 7: for me. You know, I could tune out my parents, 586 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:46,960 Speaker 7: you know, arguing and stuff. 587 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,799 Speaker 1: Today she's still caring for the doll, just in a 588 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:52,560 Speaker 1: different way. 589 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,000 Speaker 7: It was a caregiver role, and I think that did 590 00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:59,920 Speaker 7: bring me joy and now too. Yeah, you know, restore 591 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,960 Speaker 7: them is an act of love and carrying in it is. 592 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,080 Speaker 7: You know, I'm restoring them, I'm fixing them. I'm bringing 593 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:08,200 Speaker 7: them back to life. 594 00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:14,680 Speaker 8: Abra is onto something so I could project my own uncertaints, 595 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:17,719 Speaker 8: my own anxieties and fears onto it, and then I 596 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,920 Speaker 8: can in turn soothe it, which fits. 597 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:25,600 Speaker 9: In well with the Union notion of projecting out these 598 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:29,719 Speaker 9: constructs that might be unconscious. So this is a way 599 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:33,160 Speaker 9: I don't have to directly say the world is scary. 600 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:38,160 Speaker 1: That's David Bosh, a consumer behavior expert and associate professor 601 00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:43,360 Speaker 1: of psychology at New York University. David studies how businesses 602 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:49,399 Speaker 1: connect with consumers and how consumers connect with material goods or, 603 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:50,800 Speaker 1: in this case, dolls. 604 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:52,520 Speaker 9: What the hell can I do? 605 00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:53,840 Speaker 1: Instead? 606 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:57,960 Speaker 9: I can turn to my cabbage patch kid, and I 607 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:01,360 Speaker 9: can nurture myself through nurturing the cabbage patch kid. 608 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:07,720 Speaker 1: But nothing exists in a vacuum. Remember Shirley Temple dolls. 609 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:11,759 Speaker 1: They succeeded at the height of an economic crisis when 610 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:16,120 Speaker 1: the country was feeling despondent. In the nineteen eighties, things 611 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:20,520 Speaker 1: were fraught too, just in a different way. That jolly 612 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:25,480 Speaker 1: Christmas season also brought the day after a disturbingly realistic 613 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:30,360 Speaker 1: made for television movie about the consequences of nuclear warfare. 614 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:35,480 Speaker 1: It was seen by over one hundred million people, generating 615 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:41,640 Speaker 1: fresh anxiety over mutually assured destruction. So called latchkey kids 616 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:44,520 Speaker 1: were in the news too, coming home from school to 617 00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:48,799 Speaker 1: an empty house while both parents were at work. The 618 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:54,440 Speaker 1: kids were a welcome companion, or what some psychologists believed 619 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:59,319 Speaker 1: was an adoption fantasy. A cabbage patch kid didn't just 620 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,239 Speaker 1: want care, they seemed to need it. 621 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:07,080 Speaker 9: Yeah, so sure, the idea of it wanting your attention, 622 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:10,120 Speaker 9: of it having an urgent need, of its having its 623 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,000 Speaker 9: arms stretched out waiting for a hug, wanting to give 624 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:16,719 Speaker 9: a hug, right, So that brings up this notion that 625 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:21,759 Speaker 9: in this case, dolls can serve different functions and can 626 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:27,800 Speaker 9: be mentally represented, which includes emotional representation in different ways. 627 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 9: This doll is not a product. This doll is not 628 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,719 Speaker 9: something that you own. This doll is something that you 629 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:39,400 Speaker 9: interact with. So in this case, it's not about acquisition. 630 00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:43,120 Speaker 9: It's not about their uniqueness. It's not that I want 631 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:47,520 Speaker 9: the exact one that my favorite celebrity also has. In fact, 632 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:51,200 Speaker 9: that's not what I want because it's not about possession. 633 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,880 Speaker 2: In this case, it's about a relationship. 634 00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:58,080 Speaker 1: And sure marketing was a big part of it, so 635 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,759 Speaker 1: was the thrill of the chain, the idea you could 636 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:05,560 Speaker 1: be a hero for finding an elusive doll coveted by 637 00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:10,040 Speaker 1: the masses. A cabbage patch kid wasn't some elitist acquisition. 638 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:14,839 Speaker 1: They often sold for cost or around twenty bucks. It 639 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:18,960 Speaker 1: wasn't about the money. It was proving that you, as 640 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:23,680 Speaker 1: a parent, had the stamina the fortitude to obtain it. 641 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:28,200 Speaker 1: For a child, it was tangible proof they were loved. 642 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:31,520 Speaker 9: There's uncertainly about what we can provide for our kids, 643 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,840 Speaker 9: for our family. Can we fulfill those roles we believe 644 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:37,960 Speaker 9: we should? Can we be the stand up people that 645 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,080 Speaker 9: we feel we are and should be, And this represents 646 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:43,200 Speaker 9: a way to compensate for that. 647 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:48,200 Speaker 1: But for Abra and the thousands of others still caring 648 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:52,280 Speaker 1: for the dolls, the marketing hype has ceased to exist. 649 00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:55,480 Speaker 1: There are no more long lines in front of a 650 00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:59,839 Speaker 1: department store, no media hysteria over broken legs and base, 651 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:04,400 Speaker 1: no fear of missing out. It's only when you strip 652 00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:07,799 Speaker 1: away the kids as a commodity that you get to 653 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:12,160 Speaker 1: their essence. The kids were someone to care for a 654 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,840 Speaker 1: tiny brother or sister. That part seems obvious, but the 655 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:22,000 Speaker 1: reverse was also true. In darker times. These dolls provided 656 00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:26,239 Speaker 1: a feeling of security. They seemed to care right. 657 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,400 Speaker 7: Back, you know, in a way. I think I felt 658 00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:32,200 Speaker 7: that they gave me a love. Their love wasn't going 659 00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:35,640 Speaker 7: to be taken away. And now that you know, I'm 660 00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:39,200 Speaker 7: really processing stuff, you know, going through some repressed memories 661 00:45:39,280 --> 00:45:43,040 Speaker 7: and finally dealing with it, these Cabbage Patch Kids bring 662 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:44,680 Speaker 7: me back to that simpler time. 663 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:50,560 Speaker 1: They were a safe haven for me Today. Mass produced 664 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:54,960 Speaker 1: at Cabbage Patch Kids are licensed and manufactured by Wicked 665 00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:59,160 Speaker 1: Cool Toys out of Bristol, Pennsylvania. If you want an 666 00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:04,960 Speaker 1: original kid handmade, you can visit Babyland General in Cleveland, Georgia, 667 00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:08,880 Speaker 1: which is still in business. Many people we spoke to 668 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,800 Speaker 1: for this story still have a Cabbage Patch kid Abra 669 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:17,839 Speaker 1: of course, but also Roger and Lena. We'll always have 670 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,640 Speaker 1: toy fads. You might be scouting for a La Booboo 671 00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:25,000 Speaker 1: or whatever TikTok declares the thing of the week, the 672 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:29,240 Speaker 1: toy that disappears online faster than you can hit refresh. 673 00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:34,680 Speaker 1: Parents still drive too far, spend too much, and hunch 674 00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:37,960 Speaker 1: over their laptops at three am trying to beat a 675 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:42,000 Speaker 1: bot army to the checkout button. But not every craze 676 00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:45,360 Speaker 1: leaves it to mark the way that Cabbage Patch Kids did. 677 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:50,239 Speaker 1: For decades after their debut, the Cabbage Patch Kids are 678 00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:57,000 Speaker 1: still being washed, re stuffed, rewigged, and renamed, not because 679 00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:01,319 Speaker 1: anyone's worrying about Christmas morning, but because the feelings they 680 00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:05,880 Speaker 1: carried never expired. That's what makes them more than a 681 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:11,920 Speaker 1: weird eighties footnote. They were away for Latchkey Kids, divorce kids, 682 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:15,000 Speaker 1: the ones who watched the day after and went to 683 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:19,799 Speaker 1: bed scared to practice being caregivers in a world that 684 00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:26,000 Speaker 1: often felt unstable, that still feels unstable. Eventually, Abra says, 685 00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:29,520 Speaker 1: some members of the Facebook group will have an in 686 00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:33,320 Speaker 1: person meetup If so, they'll be easy to spot. 687 00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:36,480 Speaker 7: There is no doubt in my mind that we would 688 00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:38,000 Speaker 7: have our some cabbage Patch. 689 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:38,720 Speaker 1: Kids with us. 690 00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:41,480 Speaker 7: I bought a cabbage Patch T shirt and I have 691 00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:45,400 Speaker 7: cabbage Patch earrings, and I think you just find us 692 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:49,680 Speaker 7: all kind of decked out in cabbage Patch attire and 693 00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:50,640 Speaker 7: with our dolls. 694 00:47:51,239 --> 00:47:54,520 Speaker 1: If that happens, it won't look like the department store 695 00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:58,160 Speaker 1: riots of nineteen eighty three. No elbows to rib, no 696 00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:02,160 Speaker 1: baseball bets, just a room full of middle aged kids 697 00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:05,960 Speaker 1: and the dolls that helped them get through. Who knows, 698 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:08,520 Speaker 1: maybe Larry Mazoe will join to I. 699 00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:11,200 Speaker 2: Don't remember them being homely or anything. I just don't 700 00:48:11,239 --> 00:48:13,160 Speaker 2: remember that. I thought they were cute, you know. 701 00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:15,719 Speaker 3: I remember the most people loving them and puddling them 702 00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:16,480 Speaker 3: and things like that. 703 00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:33,320 Speaker 4: Very Special Episodes is made by some very special people. 704 00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:37,640 Speaker 10: Today's episode was produced in partnership with School of Humans. 705 00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:41,560 Speaker 10: This show was hosted by Danish Schwartz, Zaren Burnette, and 706 00:48:41,680 --> 00:48:46,280 Speaker 10: Jason English. Our senior producer is Josh Fisher. This episode 707 00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:50,440 Speaker 10: was written by Jake Rowson. Our story editor is Virginia 708 00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:54,440 Speaker 10: Prescott from School of Humans. Producers are Amelia Brock and 709 00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:58,880 Speaker 10: Etilye's Perez. Editing and sam designed by Jonathan Washington and 710 00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:04,200 Speaker 10: Josh Fisher. Additional editing by Mary Doo, fixing and mastering 711 00:49:04,239 --> 00:49:08,120 Speaker 10: by Josh Fisher. Research and fact checking by Jake Rosson, 712 00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:13,560 Speaker 10: Virginia Prescott and Austin Thompson. Original music by Elise McCoy, 713 00:49:14,440 --> 00:49:18,680 Speaker 10: Show logo by Lucy Kintonia, Social clips by Yrberry Media. 714 00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:24,280 Speaker 10: Executive producers of today's episode are Virginia Prescott and Jason English. 715 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:28,319 Speaker 10: We'll be back next week one more holiday episode before Christmas. 716 00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:31,240 Speaker 4: If you ever want to share a comment or a question, 717 00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:34,840 Speaker 4: hit us up Very Special Episodes at gmail dot com 718 00:49:35,520 --> 00:49:37,960 Speaker 4: well through another mailbag episode at some point. 719 00:49:39,360 --> 00:49:43,120 Speaker 10: Very Special Episodes is a production of iHeart Podcasts