The holidays are a time for joy, family, and in 1983, a series of chaotic, violent events involving Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. The Cabbage Patch Riots occurred in the US during the holiday season of 1983, centered around the release of the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which quickly became a massive fad.
The Cabbage Patch Kids were soft-bodied dolls created by artist Xavier Roberts and sold through a company called Original Appalachian Artworks. The dolls were highly sought after due to their distinctive appearance and limited availability. The dolls were marketed as "adoptable," and each doll had its own name and birth certificate, which added to their appeal.
As Christmas approached in '83, stores across the U.S. struggled to keep up with demand for the dolls. People began to camp out overnight, hoping to secure one of the dolls for their children. The frenzied demand led to fights, pushing, shoving, and even brawls between parents and shoppers desperate to buy the dolls. In some cases, security was called in to maintain order, but even that wasn't enough to prevent chaos.
In this video footage of The Cabbage Patch Riots, you can see what went down in the stores, and it looks both terrifying and absurd, considering all this fuss was over a doll. There are also a handful of interviews with people who were there, and why they were willing to do whatever it took to get their hands on one of these dolls.
See also: Wonderfully strange assortment of doll parts found at antique store
