A Toy is Born

Raggedy Ann

In the early 1900's, a little girl named Marcella Gruelle found a handmade doll in the attic of her parent's Connecticut home. It was dusty and torn but Marcella liked so much that her father repaired it and gave it a name: Raggedy Ann (inspired by two James Whitcomb Riley poems, "The Raggedy Man" and Little Orphan Annie". Marcella spent so much time with the doll that her father (Johnny Gruelle), a cartoonist, started writing and illustrating stories about it. His books - the original Raggedy Ann series - made Raggedy Ann one of the most popular dolls of the 20th century.

Legos

At a local toy fair in 1954, a shopkeeper complained to Danish toy maker Godtfred Kirk-Christiansen that most modern toys didn't challenge children to think. That night, Christiansen came up with an idea for an integrated system of building blocks that locked together, enabling children to use their imaginations and build interesting structures not possible with standard blocks. He called his creation Legos from the Danish words leg godt, which means "play well". Today Legos are in 70% of American and 80% of European homes with children - more than any other toy.

Cabbage Patch Kids

Xavier Roberts, a Georgia folk artist, was selling his soft sculpture dolls at a craft fair when a customer walked up and asked him how much the dolls cost. Roberts had a splitting headache. He snapped back: "They're not for sale" - but quickly recovered and said "they're up for adoption". The idea behind Cabbage Patch Kids was born.

Roberts carried the concept to extremes. He converted an old medical clinic into Babyland General Hospital, where employees "delivered" his "babies" and gave them "birth certificates" with names like Bessie Sue and Billie Jo. His dolls were ugly, but they still became a national sensation in 1983. Customers in one toy store rioted after waiting over eight hours to buy the dolls. One woman broke her leg - and the store owner had to protect himself with a baseball bat.

In 1980, Martha Nelson, a craft artist Roberts had worked with in the past, sued him, claiming he had stolen some of her soft sculpture techniques. The court ruled that Roberts had used some of Nelson's ideas, but since she never copyrighted the design, she wasn't entitled to any of the profits.

On a personal note. We ordered a Cabbage Patch Kid the summer before they became so popular hoping that by "adopting" one, our daughter might take care of her toys better. The catalog company called and asked if we would take a boy as the demand started to pick up. Over 25 years later Kris Edward is still with us. I had to give him his baby shots when I worked for a pediatrician, buy him clothes and preemie diapers. Now he goes everywhere with my granddaughter.