When I was seven ALL I WANTED was a Cabbage Patch doll. They were The Rage in 1984. They were also $80. I know this because I used to cut out every advertisement with them in it and hang them on our almond GE fridge. And my mom used to calmly remove them with the same comment, "I'm not paying that much for a doll."
A DOLL? How can you call that a doll when it comes with it's VERY OWN BIRTH CERTIFICATE??? When it has REAL BUTT CHEEKS THAT ARE SIGNED?? ARE YOU CRAZY MOM???
My parents were hippies and had some strong opinions about "Materialism" and "Commercialism" and "Name Brands" and "Not Dancing For The Man". They were hoping to send the message that I didn't need to define myself by a label and that I needed to establish my own wants and desires from within without the outside influence of advertising. Or something. (LENA'S CREDIT CARD: The message didn't take.)
Anyway, I was desperate for this doll. Desperate. So desperate in fact that when my aunt bought me these I actually WRAPPED A BLANKET AROUND ONE SLIPPER AND CARRIED IT EVERYWHERE. I was nothing if not resourceful.
Seeing me continually swaddle the slipper with meticulous care every day must have gotten to my mom because she eventually took pity on me...and bought me a $20 knock-off Cabbage Patch Doll at the flea market...which SHE signed herself on its butt...and which smelled faintly of lighter fluid...and was soon after confiscated after news reports outed the fraudulant manufacturers for using disposed gas rags in their assembly process.
I was soon back on The Slipper.
I carried that "doll" for two years. Until Cabbage Patch Dolls were no longer the rage and I was able to shift my focus to other less expensive interests which enabled me to retain my pride (I think it was Jelly Bracelets).
So, last year when my dad was on his death bed and he bought Savannah a gift, I knew what it was before she even opened it. And we named her Slipper.
What a sweet story!
Does Savannah know why it was so special?
My grandma made me one with a pattern and a head purchased from Ben Franklin. I still have it, somewhere. I was never crazy about them, but they were so popular she thought I needed one, I guess. I didn't like that they had that plastic - what could have only been snot - bump under their nose. Kinda like the Garbage Pail Kids.
Posted by: Amy | 08/22/2006 at 02:45 PM
awwwwwwww.. oh man, so sweet.
Posted by: jennster | 08/22/2006 at 03:02 PM
Slipper! Perfect.
Posted by: Mir | 08/22/2006 at 03:04 PM
You totally opened me up with the warm-hearted tone of your struggle for that doll, and just when I had my heart exposed on the table -- WHAM -- you crush it with a sad/happy ending. Good stuff.
Posted by: Jay | 08/22/2006 at 03:13 PM
I can hardly see my computer screen for all the tears in my way.
I love that story. And just the fact that your Dad remembered, just breaks my heart.....in a good way.
Posted by: Angela | 08/22/2006 at 04:11 PM
What a cute story. I bought one for my son when I found out I was pregnant. They were cheap! He played with it for a few years when he was into the stuffed animal stage. Now it is in the toy box for the grandbabies.
Posted by: Fruitful Spririt | 08/22/2006 at 07:43 PM
Awww. A sweet story. And I love her name.
Posted by: Caryn | 08/22/2006 at 07:53 PM
I had no idea that this story was going to turn sentimental - I was enjoying remembering Cabbage Patch Dolls (I also had a knockoff) and jelly bracelets... then WHAM. Tears in my eyes. Seriously.
Posted by: Marcia | 08/22/2006 at 10:08 PM
That's super sweet. You know slippers aren't real though right?
Posted by: Stefanie | 08/22/2006 at 11:45 PM
That is such a great story. I remember the rage over Cabbage Patch. News reports of people fighting over them.....now we get to share it with our daughters. My daughter already has two, and they smell terrific.
Love the ending Lena. Treasure that doll forever. (hugs)
Posted by: Amanda | 08/23/2006 at 08:42 AM
I never knew cabbage patch dolls were so expensive! We had a bunch lying around the house when I was just little. Maybe the price went down? Maybe my parents shopped on the black market? Who know. Nice story Lena!
Posted by: r. robyn | 08/23/2006 at 09:27 AM
that's a sweet story! i still have my cabbage patch doll.. her name is glynnis maxine. :)
Posted by: mindy | 08/23/2006 at 09:30 AM
That made me laugh out loud...then cry. What a touching story.
Posted by: Pattie | 08/23/2006 at 09:55 AM
i had those slippers. in a turquoise color. and i forgot ALL about them til i saw that picture. omg.
Posted by: becky | 08/23/2006 at 10:32 AM
Oh Lena - This was such a special post! I too went thru the 'frenzy' of wanting a doll along w/my Dear Grandmother....
This post made me tear up....and laugh (the visual image of you as a little girl swaddling your slipper...too precious) Thank you!
Posted by: Teresa M. | 08/23/2006 at 11:47 AM
that is the cutest thing!
Posted by: Maksmomma | 08/23/2006 at 01:15 PM
I didnt know they were so expensive. I had several, so maybe my parents and r.robins parents were selling real babies on the black market. And I even called my mom to double check that I wasnt getting the fake ones. She said no she bought the real ones for about $40, which I told her the people on the blogs were getting nothing or fake ones, and that I knew I was truly loved.. :)
Posted by: Softball Slut | 08/23/2006 at 04:10 PM
My parents were JUST like your parents, and used to sell my stuff or give it away before I was done playing with it. But my Grampy was the opposite. One day I will NEVER forget, he took me to the store and told me I could get ANYTHING I wanted. I didn't know what to do. Then he said the magic words, "Even one of those Cabbage dolls you've been wanting so much." I was in heaven.
Posted by: bobealia | 08/23/2006 at 04:23 PM
Oh my God..I loved the Cabbage Patch Dolls, too...
And you were only 7? Making me feel old!
Posted by: stayathomemotherdom | 08/23/2006 at 05:35 PM
Oh, wow. The tears, they are a-coming.
Golly how I remember how much I loved mine. And then how I didn't so much once the price was lowered and I had eight.
Posted by: Kari | 08/23/2006 at 10:08 PM
Oh what an unexpected and beautiful ending. I have a tear in my eye.
I was a cabbage patch doll obsessed girl too but I was almost 11 so I worked my ass off doing odd jobs at home and for the neighbours to pay for my own. Vanessa Marie. I still remember. A few years later the dog ate her though. By then puberty hit and I was okay with it though. As long as he didn't eat my curling iron all was good.
Posted by: Sunshine Scribe | 08/24/2006 at 07:23 AM
My parents also held out on buying me one because of the price. Finally they got me a boy, on clearance. His name was George darn I loved that doll. My mom still has him at her house though my daughter snubs her nose at him..."I don't want to play with a boy doll!" she says.
Now I am off to have a good cry!
Posted by: Sarah | 08/24/2006 at 08:28 AM
I started out nodding along and laughing at your slipper in a blanket (I too had a knock-off CP doll...my aunt made it for me. But by the end of the post, tears were welling in my eyes! Thank you for sharing this one.
Posted by: Jess R | 08/24/2006 at 10:33 AM
Awwww... that was so sweet.
Cabbage Patches came out the year my first was born and my MIL fought the mobs to get her one for Chrismas. Her name was Nettie Grace (the doll, not the MIL).
Posted by: JustLinda | 08/24/2006 at 11:00 PM
THAT LAST LITTLE BIT BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES. YOU WERENT THE ONLY LITTLE GIRL NOT TO GET A REAL ONE. MY MOM BOUGHT ME A FAKE ONE TOO...ALTHOUGH I DON'T REMEMBER IT SMELLING LIKE GAS, THANK GOD...BUT I LOVED HER AND SHE WAS MY BEST FRIEND EVEN THOUGH MY "REAL" FRIENDS MADE FUN OF HER FOR HER NON-PLASTIC PARTS.
Posted by: JAMIE | 08/25/2006 at 02:13 PM