Martha Nelson Thomas (born Martha Marie Nelson, November 29, 1950 – May 26, 2013) was an American folk artist, known for her work in soft sculpture. Thomas was the creator of "Doll Babies," the inspiration for

Cabbage Patch Kids Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage ...

Biography

Martha Nelson was born in

Princeton, Kentucky Princeton is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Caldwell County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the county seat, seat of its county. The population was 6,329 during the 2010 U.S. Census. Princeton is home to several notabl ...

to Ralph and Ernestine Nelson. As an infant, her family moved to

Mayfield, Kentucky Mayfield is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule–class city and the county seat of Graves County, Kentucky, Graves County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,017 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Hi ...

. She graduated from the Louisville School of Art. Martha Nelson married Tucker Thomas on October 10, 1981. They had three children Seth, Carl and Mara. Martha was the sister of Louisville-based stone carver Albert Nelson (1949–2021). In 1971, while a student, Thomas began experimenting with soft sculpture in the form of dolls. She designed her "Doll Babies" with input from children she knew, made them by hand, and sold them at craft fairs around

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. In 1976, Thomas met

Xavier Roberts Xavier Roberts (born October 31, 1955, in Cleveland, Georgia) is best known for Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, once immensely popular soft sculpted dolls. Early life When Xavier Roberts was five, his father died in a car accident, leaving his mothe ...

at one of these craft fairs. He asked her to supply him with dolls to sell in Georgia, where he lived and worked. Thomas briefly let him sell her Doll Babies, but stopped. Roberts created his own version in 1978, and in 1982 he licensed the dolls to

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. ( ) was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. The name "COLECO" is an abbreviation derived from the company's original name which combines the first two letters of "C ...

for mass-production under the name

. In 1979, Thomas filed her first suit against Roberts. By 1983, she was seeking $1 million in damages from Roberts. In 1984, the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Around this time, while Cabbage Patch Kids were so popular that buyers had to join a nine-month waiting list, Thomas sold a line of craft items through Fibre-Craft based on her original Doll Babies that allowed buyers to sew up their own doll. Cabbage Patch Kids at this time sold for $30 to $150; Thomas's Doll Babies supplies cost about $16 total. After the court case Martha continued to create art throughout her life. Some of her projects included making toys based on her children's drawings and making toys using socks. Martha and her family sold these creations at local craft fairs. Martha was also committed to fostering a love of art in children. She was an artist in residence at her children's elementary school and did workshops with the local Girl Scout Chapter and other organizations. Thomas died in

on May 26, 2013, of ovarian cancer. Her work has been exhibited at the

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Martha Nelson American folk artists People from Mayfield, Kentucky 20th-century American women artists 2013 deaths 21st-century American women 1950 births Deaths from ovarian cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Kentucky