Xavier Roberts’ cuddly-toy business grew into a billion-dollar empire in the space of a few years. What was it about these dolls that made Christmas shoppers turn violent in 1983?
“Is that what Christmas is about? A full-grown woman taking a doll out of a child’s hand.”
While there had been toy crazes before, no one ever suffered a serious injury in a stampede to get their hands on a Rubik’s Cube, skateboard or hula hoop. In the run-up to Christmas 1983, Cabbage Patch Kids inspired a different kind of mania in cities across the US, with one department store in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania becoming the scene of a near-riot.
As supplies of the dolls ran out, one woman broke her leg and four others were hurt, while a desperate shop manager armed himself with a baseball bat to restore calm. The cost of missing out on the must-have toy was too much for some anxious parents. By the time local mother Patti Colachino fought her way to the toy counter, the dolls were all gone. She said: “What do we tell our little girl on Christmas morning? What are we supposed to say? You’ve been good but Santa ran short?”
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