Babyland General Hospital – Cabbage Patch Kids, Cleveland, Georgia

“I liked dolls as a child, but as an adult, I love them! They represent the good in all of us and display the diverse beauty of humankind.”

Gayle Wray

Who doesn’t remember the Cabbage Patch phenomena in the 1980’s. It was during that time that people would actually fight to get a doll in the stores since they were so hard to come by. Almost three million Cabbage Patch Kids were adopted in 1983 and there were still loads of people who still wanted to get one but couldn’t as they just couldn’t produce enough dolls. I bought our daughter, Jeannine a doll in 1985 when we were stationed in Germany as it was easier to get them there. Her doll was a cutie with red ponytails and she loved on that baby girl for years.

Fast forward to October 2018. Our daughter, Jeannine and her husband, Darren are bringing their three beautiful girls to Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia so they can adopt their very own babies. How sweet. It brought back many memories of Jeannine when she was a child and the excitement in her eyes. The girls were very excited.

We didn’t know what to expect when we pulled outside of this building that looked like a southern plantation. The property and building were huge. This 70,000 square foot mansion sits on 96 acres and was built in 2007. This building has retail space, offices, a historical archive, meeting and conference room, warehouse, as well as the “Homeplace” to 115 million Cabbage Patch Kids and their adoptive parents.

We walked up the brick steps to the front of the building and looked out over the large green field in front of this white mansion with large columns in front. There were beautiful planters all around this building with gorgeous flowers that were brilliant colored thriving in this climate.

We walked in the lobby and came up to the reception desk where a female in a nurses outfit greets us. She explained how it works here and we walk in. There is no charge for going in and looking around. It appears just like a hospital with a waiting room and everything. In the waiting room has props for picture taking. There is a green cabbage chair to sit in and get pictures taken, and wood cut outs of cabbage patch kids to get pictures taken in.

Then we walked down a hallway where we could see Cabbage Patch babies in cribs, dressed up in Halloween outfits, original Cabbage Patch Kids that had the soft hand painted faces. There were ladies in scrubs who worked there walking around with stethoscopes and are there to help you find the perfect baby.

Then we entered the huge room loaded with Cabbage Patch Kids of all varieties. They had preemies to Kids, to specialty dolls. This room was fascinating. There is the huge Crystal Cabbage Patch tree where the Mother gives birth to Cabbage Patch Kids. A nurse shows up a certain times and brings a new baby Cabbage Patch Kid into this world. After the baby is born, she takes the baby into the recovery room to take the babies vitals and wrap him/her up for adoption.

The founder, Xavier Roberts was a twenty one year art student that rediscovered the method of “needle Molding” which was a German technique for fabric sculpturing that was popular in the 1800’s. He had an interest in quilting skills that was passed down from his mom and created his first sculptures in 1976. He first called his babies the Little People and won first prize for him making his Dexter doll at a craft show in Kissimmee, Florida.

He brought together a group of five school friends to organize the Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. and they renovated an old building that was the L. G. Neal Clinic and turned it into his first Babyland General Hospital. They did very well adopting out millions of Cabbage Patch Dolls and then built the new Babyland General Hospital in 2007 where we are visiting today. He wrote the legend of the Cabbage Patch Kids.

The Legend states there was a young boy named Xavier Roberts was playing the woods near the Appalachian Mountains when something flew by him looking like a flying bunny but it buzzed his head. He followed the bunnybee and watched it fly through a waterfall and disappeared. Then it came buzzing back through the waterfall and buzzed his head again.

He checked out the waterfall and found they were not normal with a little dry cave behind the water. He went into the cave. He adjusted his vision and saw beautiful crystals of all sizes and colors. Bunnybee buzzed him and prompted him to follow him deeper in the cave. He took out his flashlight but found he didn’t need it as the further he went into the cave; the lighter it got.

He saw an opening in the cave that was covered with Kudzu so he took out his pocket knife and cut away part of the vine and saw the sun light. He saw bunnybee spreading the magic dust from the crystals onto the cabbages that were lined up in rows. He saw lots of kids and small babies sleeping and playing in the cabbages and a boy named Otis Lee, also a Cabbage Patch Kid came up to him and spoke.

Otis Lee explained that the Cabbage Patch Kids come in all sizes and shapes and are born here in this secret cabbage patch field. He explained how the magic dust makes the babies be born. He promised Otis that he would build a home for the babies where they could come live and play until someone adopted them. Nice story and he made it all come true.

The girls found their babies and took them to room where they could name their babies and adopt them. What an awesome idea. They promised to take care of their babies. We walked out with the girls holding their babies in their arms.

This is a very unique place and was a great stop for us. 2018 is there fortieth anniversary of the first Cabbage Patch Kids. Check them out at: https://cabbagepatchkids.com.