The Cabbage Patch riots were a series of violent customer outbursts at several retail stores in the United States in the fall and winter of 1983.
[1] The holiday season of 1983 saw several violent occurrences in such major retail stores as Sears, JCPenney, Wards and Macy's.
[2] In Milwaukee, radio DJs jokingly announced that a B-29 bomber would drop Cabbage Patch Kids dolls at County Stadium, which prompted two dozen people to follow their facetious instructions to stand in the -2°F wild-chill holding catcher's mitts and American Express cards.
[1] Reports of violence included hitting, shoving, and trampling, as well as some customers attacking others with weapons such as baseball bats in order to obtain a Cabbage Patch Doll.
[1][5] The Cabbage Patch riots foreshadowed subsequent holiday toy crazes, such as for the Tickle Me Elmo doll in 1996 and Hatchimals in 2016.