Inside the bag was a variety of items:
- a couple of bonnets and a parasol from a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia
- an old guitar strap & Christmas themed songbook for JQ
- a seal and a monkey stuffed animal that were in great condition (these were actually my brother's)
- a Pound Puppy
- an original Care Bear
- a German Barbie doll
- and my collection of Cabbage Patch Kids
I had quite of few of Cabbage Patch Kids— including one my Mom made for me that first year they came out. The year that CPK dolls sold on the black market for hundreds of dollars. Those dolls were such a big part of my childhood that when I found them in the basement at my Mom's, I hated to just throw them away. So, I packed them into the garbage bag and took them home. Where I promptly left the bag in the basement storage area.
I needed to sort through the bag. As I pulled each doll out I knew what I had to do. Get rid of them. They were in bad shape and wouldn't see the light of day anytime soon. Who was going to play with them? Nobody, that's who.
Of course, I had to photograph them first.
There is one doll missing from the picture—a blonde boy with curly hair. Including the homemade one that's makes seven CPK dolls. Like I said, a big part of my childhood. They don't look to bad in this shot but check out the small pox on the Premie CPK on the far right.
And the poor handmade doll looks like she hasn't had a bath in twenty years. Which technically, is true.
The one in the best condition is the little blonde girl in the center. I think she was my first real Cabbage Patch Kid.
When I found her in the box she was wearing a dress that belonged to me when I was a baby. The little guy to her right is wearing an outfit that you buy at a church bazaar done in my elementary school colors. There was also the token naked baby. I tucked him in the back—you know—to be modest.What were your favorite toys? Are you still hanging on to any of them?
12 comments:
I've still got a couple of my Cabbage Patch Kids, including the first one I ever got... a brown haired girl named Ardella. I've thought about naming a pet Ardella one of these days in honor of that stupid doll! But I remember how much I loved her when I got her, and how, for years, I took such careful care of her.
I also have a larged stuffed "101 Dalmations" dog that belonged to my Pop-Pop. When he died, I wanted that dog (and one of his golf shirts) as mementos. He loved movies with talking animals...he was so goofy! Anyway, I'll never get rid of Ardella or that silly dog. Even if they do take up a crapload of space in storage. :)
I don't think they're in too terrible condition! Mine are in the attic, at present. My mom insisted we keep all of ours. I remember the "black market" year well- my sister was the first one of us to want one of the dolls & my mom bought it off a lady who had purchased one, sight unseen from a store. & then when it arrived it was rather Latina-looking and the woman didn't want it for her daughter. So "Mercy Christie" came to live with us. That Christmas, I got "Elna Yvonne" (where DID those names come from?) & I forget the name of Little Sis. Then we each got a Preemie when they came out. Mine was "Harvey Eldridge". I don't remember the names of the others. DL and I DID both get Koosas, when they came out. At least you got to name those yourself. They even came with a form to fill out, mail in & they'd send you a license tag & collar.
Some years later we inherited my cousins' cast off CPKs, & I got all of them because no-one else wanted them. Scored a total of 2 preemies & one other doll that way.
We used to dress ours up in our old baby clothes, too! My mom saved them just for things like that!
I'll never forget my mom realizing Mercy Christie had a bottom with a real, sewn on buttcrack. She was so excited she pulled down the front of MC's diaper and said "Lemme see if she has a vagina!"
We all stated at her like "What???"
I think that was the first time we'd heard that word.
*shrieks* DEBORAH RONNIE! Little Sis' CPK arrived with the name "Deborah Ronnie".
My first CPK was Darcy Drucilla!
Well, and several others... but, I don't remember any of their names.
My little sister's first CPK was Madge something...
Pixie, we have all the same dolls! Even the homemade one!
Seriously, that black market year -- I got a homemade Cabbage Patch. I remember trying to pass it off and failing but I had one. And the blonde one -- same one! Mine was Hyacinth Rose. And the premie. WITH SMALL POX (seriously, what are those dots? Is there something toxic in the plastic??).
I had the same walk down memory lane when my parents moved to Savannah 2 years ago. Now my CPK dolls are in a plastic bin in our attic but I couldn't get rid of them.
Thanks for sharing your pix of yours.
I had the same yellow haired one as my first CPK too! Her name was Alexandria. My Dad went three states over to get it for me for Christmas that first year they came out. The next year my mom fought with a woman at a store to bring home my Russian CPK, complete with red velvet coat, black leather boots and the little black square hats they wear. If that does not show how much my parents loved me, I don't know what does. And I loved those dollas, still have them, as well as my Pound Puppy, which looks the same as yours too. Brown with black spots. What I have to find are all my My Little Ponies. I can't think of where they went to. My Mom probably sold them at a garage sale.
Cabbage patch kids were the ugliest damned things. I guess my favorite toys were the electric train and my Legos. My boy now has the lego set, and I have a few of the train cars that survived. I'd have to say though that my real favorite toy was my old Commodore 64 computer. I was a geek. I'd still have that thing if my brother hadn't let the smoke out of it.
I hope you saved the outfit that was yours. The pj's on the handmade doll was yours also.
I think my mother's still got some of my old dolls in a bag somewhere.
cruel shoes—I knew that you would say you still have yours in storage. Especially after the cassette post.
shades—You are hilarious. I can't remember any of the names of mine.
shelia—You made me smile on twitter last night with the shout out for names.
christina—We'd be buds if you lived closer. Obviously we have impeccable taste in dolls.
vegas princess—I remember the Russians!
nobody—I LOVED Legos. Still do…until G-tot gets older I have to settle for Mega Blocks.
cindy mom—When I was typing this up last night and got to the part about the outfit I thought to myself, "Self, you should of kept that dress." Sadly I don't think I did. Besides, G-tot would look silly in a dress, right? The pictures are from August 2nd, so the stuff is LONG gone.
fraulein—Why do all our precious memories end up in a bag?
I think VP's CPK had the only normal name...
We used to play "beauty shop" on my dad, and when we got bored with clipping barrettes into his hair, one of us invented taking a Lego, laying a lock of hair across it and smashing another Lego into place atop it all.
We thought it was so cool!
It was better than beads & dreds!
Dad says it really hurt.
I just noticed the wee little black dude hiding behind the other dolls in that group shot. My sister had a preemie that looked like that...his name was Burgess. I always called him Burgess Meredith because I was a dork like that.
My dolls were Ardella Cheri, Rory Nate, Margot Tracy (the most normal name for sure...and she was the prettiest, too, because she was a redhead with blue eyes), and Terrence Welsh. Seriously: WELSH as a middle name. It makes me laugh out loud, now. I think Terrence Welsh should be a band... or a variety of bread from Wales or something like that.
My pound puppy was just a shade redder than yours, with the black spots, too. I named him Rusty. So original. I might still have him, too. :)
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