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Witness History: Cabbage Patch Kids

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The Cabbage Patch Kids

27/11/2023 GMT

Cabbage Patch Kids

BBC World Service - Witness History, Cabbage Patch Kids

Christmas 1983 saw frenzied shoppers buy three million Cabbage Patch Kids

In the 1980s, Cabbage Patch Kids became a worldwide sensation. They were also the subject of a legal battle.

In 1983, all hell broke loose when a new toy hit stores in the United States. 

Cabbage Patch Kids were so popular that people were getting injured when they tried to buy them.   

But Martha Nelson Thomas, whose original design she said inspired the dolls, received little credit.

She watched on as sales of the toys generated hundreds of millions of dollars.

Martha’s close friend, Meredith Ludwig, told Madeleine Drury the story of how the strange-looking dolls became such a sensation.

This programme has been updated since it was first broadcast.

(Photo: Martha Nelson Thomas with her doll babies. Credit: Guy Mendes)

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