A Couple of X-amples – A to Z – 2023 – Letter X

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Letter X is for – Xerophyllum

These large green plants have spiky and sharp green stems that flare out. They are commonly known here as bear grass, or yucca, but their other name is Xerophyllum. In this photo it is in the foreground and behind that is a rose bush with red flowers.

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Letter X is for… Xavier Roberts

I’ll bet you’ve heard of Xavier Roberts, even if you’re not sure where, especially if you have daughters.

Xavier Roberts is the manufacturer/owner of the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls industry. Back in the late ’70s he created a soft sculpture doll, which he sold at art fairs, under the name of his business, “Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc.”. He called his dolls, ‘Little People’. It was very similar to the now well known Cabbage Patch Dolls, which got the attention of a person named Martha Nelson Thomas. They claimed Mr. Roberts had stolen their original creation, and sued him.Ultimately, the case was settled out of court. The rest is, as they say, history.

Xavier Roberts went on to manufacture the Cabbage Patch Kids, and by 1984 they had become a big hit in the doll markets, and a wide-spread fad. You may have one or more of the dolls. I know my daughters had a couple, and now my grand-daughter has one, too. One way to tell if the doll is an original, is by the authenticity signature of Xavier Roberts on the behind of every doll. 🙂

My daughters and I were talking about their dolls just the other day. I remember I won a lottery drawing from the PX (post exchange store on base) to buy one of these dolls. Actually I got to buy two, one for each of my girls. This is when everyone was stampeeding to get one of these all over the place, because they were the popular toy of the year when they came out.

Anyway, people had to submit a number to be drawn. I put in the dates of my girl’s birthdays, and my number got drawn out, so I got to buy one of the limited quantity at the store.

They sure loved their dolls, and later on got more of them. They both still have their original dolls.

Photos show the original adoption certificate, signature, and parts of the boxes the dolls came in that I saved.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2023 BS