Hilary's Cabbage Patch Clothes Closet
Learning about 1980's Cabbage Patch Kid clothing.
A new instructional video on how to replaces the body stitches in the legs is now available.
A new instructional video on how to replace the knees, ankles and toes in a mass market Cabbage Patch Kid doll is available on my YouTube channel.
The kids had a great time searching for their eggs . . . but there were a left for mom to find!
This set of 3 knit outfits were the only new clothing that came out in 1984.
There were only four new outfits sold in 1984.
One of them was outfit #20, the sailor romper, which is often associated with the 1983 series. I believe that it was originally intended to be a part of that series and, for some reason, not produced until the next year.
The other three outfits are knit and were produced ONLY by the EX factory. They do not have codes like the other 1983 outfits. There are no letters or numbers.
Most of them came separately packaged. In later years, occasionally they can be found on boxed kids as they were getting rid of inventory.
I am unsure how long these outfits were produced but, given that they are rarely seen, I don’t believe it was very long.
Suspenders and sweater outfit
I have it recorded in purple/mauve and blue.
Sweater set with hat
I have it recorded in pink /peach (I’m not sure if they are the same colour) and yellow.
Sweater with leg warmers
I have it recorded in light blue and light green.
Sneakers can be found in a rainbow of colours. Which kids did they come with and how can you tell?
Other relevant posts: CPK Shoe Summary, Lacing CPK Shoes
CPK Sneakers were manufactured by Coleco throughout the entirety of their production. However, the characteristics of the shoes varied by factory and over time.
For a definition of ‘Hong Kong Kids’, jump to the Glossary.
In the beginning, when production took place in Hong Kong [HK], the shoes had a very distinctive look. In general, they can have a number of these features but do not need to have them all.
OK HK Shoes
– very hard & very malleable
– very prominent stitching
– The tongue is not cut out (or is partially cut). It is formed as part of the shoe.
– textured body and bottom
– laces are thick and not very long
P HK Shoes
– The text runs vertically, not horizontally, in the heel.
– I have not found any P with black text.
– The vinyl is very malleable.
KT HK Shoes
– I am unable to comment on specifics. I don’t have any in my collection.
Photo courtesy of Christy Gann.
After the ‘experimental’ Hong Kong period, the shoes became more uniform but still had many characteristics that varied by factory. It can be very difficult to ‘match’ shoes. You THINK they should match, but when you put them side by side, they are nothing alike! They aren’t the same shape, colour, texture, etc.
Most of the shoes have the factory indicator and the words HONG KONG stamped on the inside by the heel, on the bottom. The factory indicator can be inside a circle or not.
After production moved to China, the shoes became more uniform in appearance but continued to vary by the factory. Indeed, as more factories began production, the amount of variation increased.
Although there are quite a few colours available, many did not show up until 1988 and 1989 (Transitional period). They came on later kids and wearing outfits 800 – 815 and as separately packaged accessories.
It seems that Hasbro did not continue to produce or use sneakers.
The sneakers come in three different stripe patterns.
#1 – the most vertical
#2 – slightly more angled
#3 – the most angled
Some factories, like P, appear to have produced all three patterns. Others did not. For example, all the OK sneakers I have use pattern #1.
The first sneakers came in only two colours, blue and pink.
In 1985 they started producing additional colours. For example, the stripes on the All-Stars Kids sneakers often matched the colour of the uniform, so colours like red, green, black, and navy blue show up. I believe that most of these shoes were produced by the FD and IC factories. At the same time, white striped shoes were produced for sports outfits and by the UT factory. Do you have UT shoes with coloured stripes? I have only seen white.
Some colours were produced in varying shades. I believe this was caused by factory variation and changes over time. For example, the PMI factory seems to have very distinct pink and blue colours.
In some cases, the same factory produced different shades of colour. For example, these two P shoes are varying shades of pink.
Here are all the colours, and their variations, that I have owned. I know that I am missing yellow and hot pink.
Update: Brown stripes came with the Padre’s baseball outfit. Special thanks to Margaret Granato and Jennifer Pelfrey.
Some of the shoes have numbers near the factory code. I think these numbers are related to moulds, but I really don’t know. What I do know, is that there are lots of numbers and a matching pair does not have to have matching numbers. One shoe can be 1 and the other 4. Numbers are most often found in shoes produced by the Taiwanese and P factories.
Disclaimer: The following observations have been made based on my collection. I welcome any information and will not hesitate to make revisions as needed.
OK Shoes
– They are thin and flexible with a tongue that is the same size as the opening.
– The text is raised, comes in two font sizes, and is sometimes blurred.
– They tend to discolour and become sticky more than others.
– They only appear to use stripe pattern 1.
P Shoes
– They tend to stay very white, and the stitching is very prominent.
– The tongue is smaller than the opening.
– The text is raised and very clear. It is generally vertical along the length of the shoe.
Numbers used: 1, 2, 3, 4
Stripe Patterns used: 1, 2, 3
KT Shoes
– They feel like OK shoes but with a very thin top edge. Some are extremely malleable.
– The tongue looks to have been formed as part of the shoe and then cut out.
– Some material is missing, making the tongue smaller than the hole.
– The text is raised.
– The bottom and inside are VERY smooth.
– Some of them have the ‘Jesmar’ shape inside. 
Stripe pattern: 1
PMI Shoes (small sample size)
– The feel and stitching are similar to OK shoes, but they tend to say while like P shoes.
– The text is a large, well-spaced PMI that is generally very legible.
IC Shoes
– They are rather hard, with little flexibility.
– Moderately prominent stitching
– The tongue is similar to P shoes.
– The text is raised and very clear. They say MADE IN TAIWAN and have numbers underneath.
Stripe patterns: 2, 3
Numbers: 2, 3, 5
UT Shoes (small sample size)
– They feel and look like IC shoes.
– Text is clear, in a small font.
Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
Stripes: 2
FD & CY Shoes
– They feel and look like IC shoes.
– Text can be VERY large or rather small.
FD Numbers: 1, 4,3, 6,9, 12
CY Numbers: 3, 4
Stripe Pattern: 2,3
SS factory: They did not produce sneakers.
Recently, a collector showed me a pair of shoes with writing on the inside that they had never seen, and honestly, neither had I!
Inside each shoe is PRC enclosed in a rectangle. The IC and Taiwan that would normally be there are only faintly visible like they’ve been rubbed out. For some reason, they changed the shoe mould. Why?
There have been two theories put forward.
This may be what PNC stands for, but I’m really not sure. I could only find references to this body in relation to legal areas in Ontario, the US, and the Philippines. None of the legal areas they deal with specifically relate to physical product samples themselves. Also, no other CPK product has this label on it that I am aware of, even though MANY different ‘specialty dolls’ were produced by Coleco. Finally, these sneakers had been out for years before these shoes came out. The only difference might be the colour of the stripe.
2. The PNC stands for the Peoples Republic of China.
The history of Taiwan is long and complex. During the 1980s, Taiwan was being held under Martial Law by the KMT government. However, in 1987, martial law was lifted, and governance started moving toward democracy. However, there was a segment of the population who wanted to unify with China, both before and after martial law was lifted. (Source) I’m not sure this is a reasonable theory either. Unless someone with these political leanings got control of one of the clothing factories for a time, I have no idea why they would change the shoe moulds like this.
Based on the scarcity of these shoes, I theorize that they were only produced at one of the Taiwanese factories, likely for a short time. As they appear to have come primarily on All-Stars Kids, that would mean they were produced sometime from mid-1984 to 1985. All-Star Kids were primarily produced by IC factories.
Do you have a theory? Or maybe some evidence to put toward one of the current theories? I’d love to hear about it!
Special thanks to Dixie McLaughlin, Patty-Fisher Sheahan, and Christie Mounce Racine for their assistance with this topic.
For more information on CPK Sneakers jump to Shoes: Sneakers
A look at my ‘finds’ over the last 6 weeks and some fascinating facts about my research so far.
During my ‘time off’ I continued to gather information on CPK clothes; however, I didn’t have time to process it. Today I did. I thought you might find it interesting to get a glimpse of what came in.
This list shows the number of each type of outfit I was able to identify from the pictures I saved in the last 6 weeks. They were provided by a variety of people from all over the world!
I also found a lot of outfits that I now have pictures for, but for which I still need tag information. So, it continues!
(Well, at least I find them interesting.)
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!
To all my cabbie friends,
To al those who have shown me love and friendship,
May you have a wonderful, lovely, positive day!
Mary Jane shoes came with some of the most beautiful dresses. Which did they come with and what shoes go with what?
Shoes: An overview and reference links
Mary Jane shoes were manufactured by Coleco throughout the entirety of their production. However, the characteristics of the shoes varied by factory and over time.
Click for a definition of Hong Kong Kids.
In the beginning, when production took place in Hong Kong [HK], the shoes had a very distinctive look. In general, they have a number of these features but do not need to have them all.
| OK | Some have black text. I have found some made with a very hard, almost grey vinyl. Some are very narrow and long. |  |  |
| P | The text runs vertically, not horizontally, in the heel. I have not found any P with black text. The vinyl is very malleable. |  |  |
| KT | Unable to comment. I don’t have any in my collection. |
After the ‘experimental’ Hong Kong period, the shoes became more uniform but still had many characteristics that varied by factory. It can be very difficult to ‘match’ shoes. You THINK they look like they should match, but when you put them side by side, they are nothing alike! They aren’t the same shape, colour, texture, etc.
Most of the shoes have the factory indicator and the words HONG KONG stamped on the inside by the heel, on the bottom. The factory indicator can be inside a circle or not.
After production moved to China, the shoes became more uniform in appearance but continued to vary by factory. Indeed, as more factories began production, the amount of variation increased.
Disclaimer: The following observations have been made based on my collection. I welcome any information and will not hesitate to make revisions as needed.
OK Factory
There are two different sizes of text font.
They generally feel thin & malleable.
P Factory
The vinyl feels like OK shoes but is whiter in colour.
The text is very clear and easy to read, and larger than that in the OK shoes.
The text can include numbers. I have recorded the following: 1,2
KT Factory
The inside tends to be very smooth and clean.
The text is raised and easy to read.
Some have slightly thicker vinyl and feel less malleable.
PMI Factory
They feel like the thicker KT shoes.
The text is raised, easy to read, and quite large.
This shape is inside:
UT Factory
They are slightly bigger than the other shoes.
They are very white, with almost a bluish tinge.
The text is raised, larger, and very clear.
There is a line across the inside bottom.
The text says, Made in Taiwan and has a raised relief, embossed along with a circle with UT inside it.
The IC, SS, FD, and CY factories do not appear to have produced Mary Jane shoes.
Mary Jane’s come in two distinct sizes, one more oval than the other. Within those sizes, there are also differences in length and width depending on age and factory.
All the coloured shoes are of the smaller, rounder type, like the KT shoes.
Eventually, they changed or made new shoe moulds. They now said CHINA instead of HONG KONG (only a few years late), but they no longer used factory indicators. I believe these shoes came next because I have coloured shoes which straddle this situation, some with factory indicators, some with CHINA.
I believe the last shoes produced had nothing in the heel except possibly a mould number. They are essentially blank. Either this was the final change before Hasbro took over, or these shoes may have all been produced by Hasbro during the transitional period; it is hard to know.
Black and brown Mary Janes appeared in 1985 on Spanish Girl and Scottish World Travelers.
In 1986 the black Mary Janes started appearing on Cornsilk Kids. It wasn’t until 1988 that other colours came out on Growing Hair kids and were sold separately. In addition, occasionally, they can be found on regular transitional kids, probably done as they were getting rid of stock.
I have recorded shoes in the following colours:
All the foreign factories produced Mary Jane shoes.
Tsukuda produced a lot of Mary Jane’s shoes, many in colour. It’s not unusual to find a Tsukuda boy wearing Mary Janes. The only Tsukuda Mary Janes I have seen had no markings inside.
For information on Jesmar Mary Janes jump to Shoes: Jesmar Shoes
Which outfits came with regular ‘high top’ shoes, shoes without factories, and more. Part 2
Other relevant posts: Regular Lace-Up Shoes Pt 1, CPK Shoes: An Overview and Links, Lacing CPK Shoes
Regular ‘lace-up’ shoes appear to come in a variety of sizes as well. Some are longer and narrower, while others are shorter and wider. Some are just smaller, period.
Eventually, they changed or made new shoe moulds. They now said CHINA instead of HONG KONG (only a few years late), but they no longer used factory indicators. I believe these shoes came next because I have coloured shoes which straddle this situation, some with factory indicators, some with CHINA.
I believe the last shoes produced had nothing in the heel except possibly a mould number. They are essentially blank. Either this was the final change before Hasbro took over, or these shoes may have all been produced by Hasbro during the transitional period; it is hard to know.
UPDATE
I’ve been provided evidence of these ‘number only shoes’ on a 1985 MIB SS preemie. This would seem to indicate that at least this factory started using them earlier than I thought. (Messanger, Jana Smith, May 2022) If you have more evidence, I would like to see it.
Coloured versions of lace-ups started appearing in 1988 on Toddlers and Transitional kids. It could be that they were all produced by Hasbro, not Coleco, as they continued to be sold on Hasbro Preschoolers after 1989. For foreign Tsukuda factory also produced coloured lace-ups
I have recorded Coleco-coloured lace-up shoes in the following colours:
What to know about regular ‘high top’ cabbage patch shoes, part 1.
Other Relevant Posts: CPK Shoe Summary, Lacing CPK Shoes
Regular lace-up shoes were manufactured by Coleco throughout the entirety of their production. However, the characteristics of the shoes varied by factory and over time.
The information in this post is chronological. If you don’t ‘recognize’ your shoes, keep going.
For a definition of ‘Hong Kong Kids’, jump to the Glossary.
In the beginning, when production took place in Hong Kong [HK], the shoes had a very distinctive look.
In general, they have a number of these features but do not need to have them all.
| OK | Some have black text. I have found some made with a very hard, almost grey vinyl. The bottom edge can be more rounded than in other factories. |  |  |
| P | The text runs vertical, not horizontal, in the heel. I have not found any P with black text. |  |  |
| KT | In general, KT shoes have more have black text. There are two versions, one with a font smaller than the other. |   |   |
After the ‘experimental’ Hong Kong period, the shoes became more uniform but still had many characteristics that varied by factory. It can be very difficult to ‘match’ shoes. You THINK they look like they should match, but when you put them side by side, they are nothing alike! They aren’t the same shape, colour, texture, etc.
Most of the shoes have the factory indicator and the words HONG KONG stamped on the inside by the heel, on the bottom. The factory indicator can be inside a circle or not.
After production moved to China, the shoes became more uniform in appearance but continued to vary by factory. Indeed, as more factories began production, the amount of variation increased.
Disclaimer: The following observations have been made based on my collection. I welcome any information and will not hesitate to make revisions as needed.
OK Factory
The vinyl feels rather flimsy and thin.
The bottoms are flat.
The text is either raised and clear or very blurry.
The text comes in two sizes, the larger being closer to the heel.
P Factory
The stitching decoration is in higher relief than the OK shoes, standing out prominently.
The text is in relief and very clear to read. The text can include numbers. I have recorded the following: 4, 3, 2, 1, 6, 7 They can develop pox.
KT Factory
They look like a regular white P except: They still have a textured bottom.
The vinyl is slightly thicker and continues to have a slight ‘cut’ or ‘trimmed’ look to it, especially the tongue.
The text is raised and clear.
IC Factory
They have very prominent relief stitching decoration, and the vinyl feels more like Jesmar vinyl. The text is embossed and very clear.
A second type looks like the other but has thicker vinyl, which creates a more structured feel. The laces are a nicer, finer, whiter string.
The text can include numbers. I have recorded the following: 5, 2
PMI Factory
They look and feel like OK shoes.
The text says, HONG KONG PMI, in two lines.
A line (like that below) was created by the mould and is visible in the heel. They can develop pox.
UT Factory
The vinyl is firmer but not rigid, very white, and very smooth (almost glossy).
The stitching decoration is in VERY high relief, and it looks like stitches rather than dots.
There is a line, in a U shape, around the heel section of the shoe, on the back, not the bottom.
It was likely left by the moulding process. There is a pronounced sole ridge.
The text says, Made in Taiwan and has a raised relief, embossed along with a circle with UT inside it.
The text can include numbers. I have recorded the following: 1, 4
SS Factory
There are two styles.
The first feels and looks like an OK shoe but is slightly smaller sometimes. They are softer and more malleable.
The second looks more like a P and has high relief decoration.
There are no words, just the factory identifier, either in a circle or not.
There may be numbers located beside the letters. I have recorded: 1,2
The FD and CY factories do not appear to have produced lace-up shoes.
Continue to Part 2
