About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

X is for Xavier


How many of you remember the Cabbage Patch Kids? They became popular in the 80's when my daughters were young. They each received their first Cabbage Patch doll when the older one was 7 1/2 and the younger one was 4.

The dolls were created by by Debbie Morehead and Xavier Roberts in 1978 and attracted the attention of toy manufacturer Coleco, who began mass-production in 1982. The Coleco Cabbage Patch Kids had large, round vinyl heads, (originally of a different, hard plastic), and soft fabric bodies, and were produced from 1982–1989. After Coleco went bankrupt, the Cabbage Patch Kids were later mass produced by other companies, including Hasbro, Mattel, Toys R Us, and currently Play Along.

My two daughters absolutely adored their Cabbage Patch Dolls and I can remember going to church craft fairs to buy clothing for their "babies." The younger daughter even had a Cabbage Patch ride-on car that looked a bit like a motorcycle.

Then Parker Brothers brought out a series of books about the Cabbage Patch Kids and I've kept two of them in my collection of children's books. One is entitled "The Great Escape" and the other is "Xavier's Fantastic Discovery." Obviously, the character in the second book is named after the creator of the Cabbage Patch Kids, Xavier Roberts. Click on his name to read a bit about him from Wikipedia. In the meantime, here's a photo of the cover of the book and two of its inside pages.
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16 comments:

Carol said...

OH, I remember when these dolls appeared on the market...people were waiting in line to buy them...and I believe they are still popular today...nice choice for X

photowannabe said...

I saw one of the original dolls by Xavier in a boutique. They wanted $200.00 for it . I wanted that doll for my collection so badly but we had 2 small boys. There was no way I could justify buying it. I still think about it after all these years. We did buy 2 of the Coleco boy dolls and I still have 2 little girl babies. All that to say I really love them.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Blast from the past. People went bananas for them. This is the first time I have ever come across who created them. Xcellent interesting post.

david mcmahon said...

Great choice of X, Leslie

Tumblewords: said...

Xcellent post! My girls didn't care for them and I was pleased at the time. However, as I get older, I like the Cabbage Patches a little bit more.

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

OMG, that certainly is a blast from the 80's!

Janie said...

Great X and fun trip down memory lane. My daughter had a Cabbage Patch doll, too. I think we even read the same books.

Maggie May said...

I remember those dolls were all the rage when my children were younger.
Somehow or other, my daughter didn't ever ask for one. They obviously didn't appeal to her or maybe at eleven, she thought they were too babyish!
I was always a bit fascinated with them though as I have never outgrown my love of dolls!

Roger Owen Green said...

Never got into the Kids, but I ALMOST used a (different) Xavier! Maybe next time.

Rune Eide said...

Nice one - our two eldest daughters were born in 1978 and 1980 ;-)

Reader Wil said...

Hi Leslie! I love children's books! Yours are very beautiful! Great choice for this difficult letter. You asked about the wall anchors and if they are used nowadays. No in the article I referred to, it says that after 1930 they weren't used anymore. Thanks for your visit and comment.

Miss_Yves said...

OH!!!My children read these children's books (translated in French , of couse_LOL)
EXcellent Kids stories and lovely illustrations !
(But I don't remember there were dolls to sale,in France)

Marie Reed said...

I LOVED the cabbage patch kids when I was a liitle girl:) I have a record too that I used to listen to every night when I went to bed! Fantastic X!

Rose said...

Thanks for the nostalgia trip, Leslie! I remember these very well--my older daughter got a "knock-off" for Christmas one year because it was impossible to find the real thing anywhere. By the time my younger daughter wanted one, there were plenty on the shelves. I wonder if someone might still be hoarding boxes of them in their attic:)

Q said...

My kids also had Cabbage Patch dolls. Great x!
Sherry

Gordon said...

An excellent X post; as usual interesting and well illustrated.