Cabbage patch dolls were a rave in the ‘80s as many kids wanted one. Each Cabbage Patch kid came with a birth certificate that cited Babyland General Hospital as its birthplace. The hospital is located in Cleveland, Georgia, and many people visit to relive their childhood memories.
The dolls are still on shelves today in popular retail stores like Target, Walmart, and Amazon and can be gotten from the official Cabbage Patch Kids website. However, you can get a better buying experience straight from the source— the Babyland General Hospital.
The origin
In the late 1970s, a 21-year-old student named Xavier Roberts first made soft-sculpted dolls. He had a brilliant idea that set him apart from other kid’s toy brands; instead of a price tag, Robert termed the price an “adoption fee.” By the end of 1983, Robert had sold over 3 million Cabbage Patch Kids, which was a record-breaking feat to achieve in the first year of launch.
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Robert’s name was written on the back of each doll, which was made in different varieties making the creation even more attractive to kids. Each doll was unique, with varying molds of heads, eye shapes, and colors, hairdos and hair colors, and many clothing options.
The Babyland General Hospital experience
The birthplace of the Cabbage Patch Kids has a lineup of activities to keep you entertained when you visit. One of the activities includes the “live birth” of the dolls, supervised by “nurses.” A licensed Patch nurse births the doll, and it is then cleaned, weighed, and fingerprinted.
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There are also photos of celebrities from the ‘80s on the wall with personalized and autographed messages— a delight for today’s adults. The Babyland General Hospital is a great destination for adults looking to remember the good old days and possibly adopt a doll again. You can also pay an extra fee to have your adopted doll’s name changed at the hospital.