Xavier Roberts Florida in 1978. Going into business as Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc., Roberts hired local seamstresses and started producing his dolls in a converted medical clinic in his hometown of Cleveland. "Babyland General Hospital" still exists today in a new location and is a popular destination for Cabbage Patch kid enthusiasts. By 1982 the Little People had evolved into Cabbage Patch Kids, licensed to a company called Coleco. The Cabbage Patch Kids were a huge hit, quickly becoming a major toy fad. In 1984 alone 20 million were bought, and by 1999, 95 million dolls had been sold worldwide. Roberts never
Cabbage Patch Kids to develop his own line of fabric sculptures. He called these hand-stitched, one-of-a-kind, soft fabric sculptures "The Little People". (Other soft sculpture dolls dating back to the 19th century were created using similar needle molding techniques.) His Little People were not offered for sale, but were "adopted" each with their own individual name and birth certificate. Instead of paying a purchase price, buyers of Little People would have to pay an adoption fee. The Little People were first sold at arts and crafts shows, then later at Babyland General Hospital, an old medical clinic that Roberts and his friends-turned-employees converted