Amy's 'Kid

When the kids were here this past week, our daughter Amy was going through some of her childhood possessions. She was sorting through the things she wants to keep, and stuff she's ready to get rid of. She and Jon live in small apartment in Salt Lake, so there's not any extra storage room. So those things are staying right here for the time being. One of Amy's most precious treasures is her old Cabbage Patch Kid. She took very good care of it through the years, and it brings back so many happy memories of her as a little girl. There is a story behind how I got that doll, and I wanted to tell it through a layout for her.

Back in the Spring of 1983, I had heard about this new Cabbage Patch line of dolls. I wasn't yet a doll designer, but I had strong opinions on the aesthetics of dolls. This new doll was not my favorite doll in the world, but when I saw the vast shelves of CPK dolls at Zody's in Hollywood, I thought I'd better get one for Amy for Christmas. Christmas was still a long time away, but there was such a huge selection, I was mesmerized.  I clearly remember standing in that toy section, with  dolls from floor to ceiling on the shelves. Dozens, if not hundreds of dolls. Each one different. Of course, I wanted one that looked like my brown-eyed, brown-haired little girl. And she had to be wearing something cute- nothing frilly for my little tomboy. It took me quite a while to find the right one. She was wearing a red dress, and had long brown pigtails, tied up with white ribbons. And her name was 'Honey Stephie'! She was perfect. I brought her home, and hid her in the kids' closet, high up, and in the back. There she sat for months and months, waiting for Christmas. (Trust me, I don't ever buy Christmas presents that early... if I get something that long before Christmas, it is given to the child for some other special occasion. Like breathing). Then, in about October, all hell broke loose! Cabbage Patch Kids became the rage! There's probably never been a toy frenzy like the one over Cabbage Patch Kids that year- people fighting in the aisles, and the great lengths people would go to to acquire one of the precious dolls. It was a media spectacle too, and I wasn't immune to seeing the news,  and the crazy prices people were willing to pay. And I had one of these precious dolls hiding in the closet. For a brief moment I considered selling the doll. We were, after all, a struggling young family with two little ones. Amy wouldn't know the difference, she had never seen the doll, nor asked for it. But I decided that giving the doll to Amy was more important than money, so in the closet it stayed. On Christmas morning, Amy was thrilled with her new dolly. We took some photos of her with the doll, and I found them to scan, and share on this layout.

(I think it is an interesting footnote, that a little over ten years later, I became a Cabbage Patch designer when I was working at Mattel, and for many years after during my freelance years. I'm part of that Cabbage Patch history too!) 

Photo taken of me in the Mattel Photo Studio, 1996