Under the cabbage leaf: on Cabbage Patch Kids

RagingMoon1987 again, and I'm bouncing from one eighties trend to another.  For some reason the My Little Pony post struck a chord with our faithful readers, so we'll see how this one goes.  This time I'm going to talk about that homely and oh-so-popular item, the Cabbage Patch Kid, also known as a CPK or a "Cabbie."  I never was ga-ga over the these like I was My Little Pony.  Mama thought they were ugly, and they reminded me of a schoolmate I hated, so I wasn't in love either.  In spite of our opinions I did have one Kid when I was a child, a Cornsilk Kid named Honoria.  I liked Honoria enough to include her in my stuffed animal games, but I didn't really play with her much.  As a result, she was in very good shape when I saw her last...and I really wish I still had her.  She disappeared during my transition from teenager to young adult, and my assumption is that she either got stolen by the hacks that we rented our old house to, or she got left out in the rain to mildew by the same hacks, OR I thought I'd never want her again and gave her away.  I did that with a lot of my toys, so it seems reasonable that Honoria went the way of my MLP collection, but I digress.  Regardless of the mechanism, I'm calling Honoria lost.  Since Cabbage Patch Kids are supposedly one of a kind I can't find an exact picture of what she looked like, but I can give you an approximation.

Fast-forward a few years to a scene in a nice little used-furniture shop in Dexter, Missouri.  I don't remember why we were there, but at the back of the store there was a small pile of dolls and toys.  I found a pathetic-looking Kid who reminded me a lot of Honoria.  Her hair was disheveled and she was homely like all Cabbies tend to be, but I felt a connection.  I paid the three dollars for her, brought her home, and named her Andrea Doria (first name pronounced ON-dree-uh) since she looked like she'd just been through a shipwreck.  Here's how she looks now after a shampoo.

Andrea is a Coleco Growing Hair Kid with a #9 head, blue eyes, and brown hair.  If I've done my research right she should be two years younger than I am, at twenty-six.  However, her butt mark is lavender and suggests a manufacture year of 1988 rather than 1989, and indeed Growing Hair Kids were hitting shelves as early as my year of birth, 1987.  Thus Andrea is probably twenty-seven rather than twenty-six (sorry to announce your advanced age, Andrea).  Her tag is marked with the factory code KT.  Unlike many Cabbies before her, Andrea has a head full of rooted curls plus a long fall that comes out the top.  At first I wasn't sure how this fall worked, but it turns out that you pull on it like a window shade...VERY GENTLY!!!  In short, Andrea is not 100% perfect, but she's superbly constructed so she's stood the test of time very well.  Coleco knew how to put together a nice product!

I've also got this one, whom I snagged on Etsy for a reasonable price.

They don't make Cabbage Patch Kids with hair in this shade of red anymore!  In keeping with the shipwreck theme, I've christened this one Valencia Rose (Val for short).  Like Andrea, Val is a Coleco doll.  Also like Andrea, Val's tag is marked KT, but that's where the similarities end.  Val has red hair, green eyes, and a #4 head.  Her butt mark is dark blue and has "'85" incorporated in, removing any guesswork about her year of production.  Her hair is made out of yarn as opposed to Andrea's fiber tresses.  The most unusual thing though is that Val is soft all the way through.  Andrea has...well, it feels almost like a brick inside her torso.  Honoria had one too, and when I was small I thought it was some sort of mechanism that made the doll talk or giggle.  I poked and prodded and squeezed on Honoria until my fingers were sore, to no avail.  Since both Honoria and Andrea have/had these "bricks" inside their chests, I assumed all Cabbies did.  But they don't; Val doesn't have one.  To this day I have no idea what those "bricks" are for, though I assume they're there to help these otherwise soft-bodied dolls hold their heavy vinyl heads up while sitting.  Here's how the two compare visually.

 

The #4 head is quite a bit smaller than the #9.  In fact, Val is smaller overall than Andrea is.  I'm not really sure if Val is darker than Andrea because of her age, or if it's because she's grubby.  I may have to take out a washcloth and try to figure it out.

Times have changed, and so have these dolls.  We no longer see dolls with red yarn hair as bright as Val's, and as far as I know most of the dolls have a "brick" inside them.  Size has changed as well.  All the Kids I've met are sixteen inches, including Val, Andrea, and Honoria.   The few Babies I've handled are fourteen inches.  Nowadays the Kids are twenty inches, and the Babies are sixteen or seventeen inches.  That may just be for the BabyLand exclusives, but I'm not sure.  The difference in sizing wouldn't be such a big deal, except that CPK's official website doesn't offer much clothing that would fit my girls.  Etsy to the rescue.  So far I've managed to score two dresses, three pairs of shoes, a pair of socks, and a raincoat for my girls.  Here's the first dress.

This one came with another dress and the raincoat in a lot that I purchased from GallantsBoutique on Etsy.  The proprietor is very sweet and carries other Cabbage Patch Kid-related items, including several dolls, plus vintage patterns for human clothes and crafts.  I think this dress is supposed to be a wedding dress, but Andrea does not look anywhere near old enough to be married so I call this her First Communion dress.  It's your basic white dress with ribbons and sparkly tulle added on.  It doesn't fully close in the back, but no worries!  Unlike Barbie and ball-jointed dolls, Cabbage Patch Kids squish!  Val is a bit smaller than Andrea, so she likely can wear this without any problems.  I haven't tried the dress on her yet, but I'm willing to bet she'll be better suited for it.  The bodice is marked with the Kids' logo, which is the pink thing you see in the center of Andrea's chest.

Outfit number two in this lot is this cute cowgirl costume.

It is also marked with the Kids' logo.  The fabric feels so soft!  The bandanna feels like cotton, and the skirt is a fleece blend of some sort.  These are a lot nicer than the doll clothes you find in stores today.  Andrea fits into this outfit a little bit better, though the back still gaps a teensy bit.

Third piece is the raincoat...or maybe it's more of a rain poncho.  Either way it's perfect for the nonstop rain we've been having.  Seriously, it rained all last weekend, most of the early part of this week, and it looks like it's going to rain next week too.  So this rain poncho may come in handy if I choose to take my Cabbies to Grandma's or anything like that.  Val looks so funny wearing it!

It too is marked, right on the chest.  I'm surprised that this poncho stood up to the test of time so well, considering that it feels like vinyl.  We all know how vinyl acts when it ages.  This is in great shape, though.  It ties at the neck and has eyes on the hood, very much like a rain poncho I had when I was a little kid.  I may need to find some rain boots and some cowboy boots if they're available.  If not, Val and Andrea have new pairs of shoes that will match everything.  Here's what they wear with the First Communion dress.

These were apparently handmade by Ann's Dolly Boutique.  They're made from yarn over a plastic frame and came with a nice thick pair of white socks.  Miss Ann also threw in this cute rattle as a freebie.

Miss Ann's store is a great place to go if you want to clothe your own Cabbage Patch Kid, by the way.  She's got other shoes and some adorable outfits available.

There's also these, which came from HintzOfVintage.

These are the real deal.  Val usually wears these with the outfit she arrived in, since she didn't come with any shoes.

Lastly, I've got these.

These came from Shirley's Vintage Dolls and More.  They are off-brand white shoes that fit Andrea like a dream.  These shoes look a lot like play shoes, so I pair them with her cowgirl outfit.  They're very well made, and I love how they feel to the touch!  Very soft and smooth, but sturdy enough not to split when they're shoved on the chubby little feet of these dolls.

Since I haven't talked about the dress Andrea came in, here it is.

Even if I didn't have the things from Etsy Andrea would still be well-dressed, because her stock outfit is complete.  This set is lavender and white all over, panties and all.  The outfit is in good shape overall, but I do need to do some repairs to the socks.  The lace is coming off.

Loose lace aside, Andrea was as near complete as any Cabbage Patch Kid I've seen.  She even still has her ponytail holder!

I usually style Andrea's fall in a braid, so this thing comes in handy.  It's got two little ribbons on it and it's trimmed with lace like the socks.

Here's a better view of what Val wore when she arrived.  It too is quite adequate.

Val came wearing a purple pair of overalls and a striped long-sleeved shirt.  The overalls have a bib pocket and square buttons to hold the straps together.  I love the originality of those buttons.  Usually the buttons I see on doll clothes are round or heart-shaped.  The shirt is a simple item, but it's well made and nicely colored.  Those stripes will match almost anything I can find for Val to wear.  It's a versatile piece and I'm pleased about that.

So that takes care of my 16-inch kids...but I failed to mention that there is a third Cabbie in the house.  Meet Poppy Elizabeth.

Poppy dates from either 1983 or 1984; the seller isn't 100% certain.  She is 22 inches tall with blonde hair and blue eyes.  She looks washed out because our curtains are open; in real life her colors are much more vibrant.  I got Poppy off Etsy as well; the proprietor lynnspeer is downsizing a large collection and has a few soft-sculpture Kids to offer.  Most of them have been skillfully rerooted, and that is the case with Poppy.  Poppy's hair is done up...I think it's done up in popcorn stitches, hence her name.  She's a great little doll, but she's quite a bit bigger than both Val and Andrea.  See?

Clothes sharing is OUT for my lovely soft girl, and I don't think I'd want to put her in 16-inch clothing anyway because all the dresses close with Velcro.  Velcro does a number on the soft parts of these dolls.  It's not an immediately huge deal because I love the outfit Poppy was sent in.  It's got FROGS on it!!!  I love frogs!

Even the feet are little frogs!

The sleeper is sized for six-month-old children, so that means that Poppy may be able to share clothes with my Creepy Babies.  I'm going to have to see what I've got that she can wear.

That concludes the auction for now.  Cyberspace is full of awesome Cabbage Patch Kids, but my wallet won't allow for much else so I'm sticking with my happy little family of three.  Val, Poppy, and Andrea appear to like it that way.

I never intended to become a hardcore Cabbage Patch collector, but having joined a Facebook group about CPKs I've learned what's nice but common and what's nice and hard to find.  My intentions are to find a binky for Val, an OK popcorn (OK stands for "Kader," which may be the ill-fated Kader Toy Factory), a TriAng Pedigree gaudy yellow, an Oriental doll of any sort (BabyLand General has several), and a Snack Time Kid.  LOL, does anyone remember the Snack Time Kids???  They're the ones that would eat plastic treats...as well as the fingers and hair of unsuspecting children!  Folks of the eighties will remember the riots that broke out over Cabbies in stores, and nineties kids like me will forever tell tales of the ravenous Snack Time Kids!  However dangerous they may be, I would love to add a Snack Time Kid to my small group.  And of course, I'd love to try and replace Honoria.  That will be hard to do, but I want to try it anyway.  I remember that she had dark auburn hair and wore a flowered dress with pink T-strap shoes.  I remember being somewhat bumfuzzled that she only had one dimple, so I think she had a #14 head.  We'll see what I turn up.  Heck, I may be completely wrong about Honoria's whereabouts.  She may be tucked away in the locked shed with my sizeable collection of Beanie Babies.

Cordially yours,

RagingMoon1987