1983

More than 200 U.S. Marines are killed when a truck explodes in front of their headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. The nation is flooded with Cabbage Patch Kids -- dolls purchased by grown-ups for "adoption" by kids.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu makes his NPR debut. His first essay is a fairy tale about bears.

On the Nov. 30 show, Noah Adams tells Susan Stamberg that he detects "something very sinister" in the Cabbage Patch craze:

Adams: "Suppose for a moment -- bear with me now -- that an alien force is trying to take over the earth. People from another planet, like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Now, they figured out the way to do it is to send down a lot of these little, cute Cabbage Patch dolls. Now, people say cute, but they also say ugly. They in fact can't figure out why everybody likes them so much. That's the power of these dolls."

"Anyway, right after Thanksgiving, this frenzied urge develops around the country. People have to have the dolls. A few million or so, then millions more to come very quickly. And then, late in February, in the dark of night, they start to multiply in your house... ."

Hear the broadcast.

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