Roger L. Schlaifer (born February 23, 1945) is an American graphic designer, writer, inventor and licensing agent. He is best known for his creative development and worldwide licensing of

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 ...

and the name and works of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

Early life and education

Schlaifer grew up in the Washington, D.C. suburb of

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

where he attended Montgomery Blair High School, also the alma mater of Nora Roberts, Goldie Hawn,

Ben Stein Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on political and economic issues. He began his career as a speechwriter for U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford before ente ...

, Carl Bernstein and Connie Chung. Schlaifer is a 1967 graduate of

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

with a BFA in illustration, and a master's degree in advertising. He took a leave of absence from Syracuse in 1966 to attend the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

where he studied graphics under Malcolm Greer and photography with Harry Callahan. In 1968 Schlaifer did a year of graduate studies at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Career

Following his military service in the National Guard, Schlaifer joined

Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...

Publishing in Washington, D.C. as an art director. He moved to Atlanta and became creative director at Bozell & Jacobs Advertising in 1972. In 1974 Schlaifer and his wife, Susanne, started Schlaifer Nance & Company, developing print advertising, packaging and collateral pieces for clients including Coca-Cola, Rushton Toys and IBM. In 1978 Schlaifer branded an early jogging-shoe roller-skate as Hot Rollers and licensed the Hot Roller brand for kids’ apparel, skates and fashion accessories which sold at stores such as Bloomingdales, Belk's and Mervyn's. Building on the success of his licensing Hot Rollers, in 1981 Schlaifer proposed an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with

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 based upon a design originally created by Martha Nelson Thomas. Early life When Xavier Roberts ...

’ company, Original Appalachian Artworks, for the rights to "Little People" soft sculpture dolls and

Babyland General Hospital Babyland General Hospital is the "birthplace" of the Cabbage Patch Kids located in Cleveland, Georgia. Xavier Roberts converted an old clinic into a facility from which to sell his dolls, originally called "Little People." It is presented as a b ...

. Schlaifer rebranded the "Little People" dolls as

. In addition to signing up

Coleco Industries Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game console ...

on August 9, 1982, as its "master toy licensee", Schlaifer ultimately licensed over 140 other manufacturers, publishers and entertainment companies to produce thousands of different Cabbage Patch Kids branded products. The reception at retail was unprecedented: there were riots at stores across America and by year's end, Coleco Industries had shipped over 3.2 million dolls. Cabbage Patch Kids was the most successful children's licensed property of its day—generating over $4 billion in retail sales of licensed merchandise during the six years of Schlaifer's tenure. Original Appalachian Artworks acquired Schlaifer's licensing rights in 1988. In addition to creating the Cabbage Patch Kids logos, packaging, and the characters, he co-wrote with wife Susanne Nance, ''The Legend of the Cabbage Patch Kids'' published by

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...

’ Books under the title ''Xavier’s Fantastic Discovery''. In 1985 Schlaifer commissioned

to do portraits of four of his Cabbage Patch Kids. Schlaifer secured worldwide licensing rights to the artists name and works from the Warhol estate in November, 1987. Additional intellectual properties created and/or developed by Schlaifer and his SN&C team, are Little Souls, and McNutts bedding for Springs Industries and Department 56. After inventing and patenting ''Odds’R: The Odds On Everything Game'' in 2002, Schlaifer wrote a compendium of similar Q&A published by Bantam Dell as ''Odds’R: The Odds On Everything Book''. Schlaifer's recently completed novel ''Who Killed Andy Warhol?'', is the first fictional account of the events leading up to Warhol's death and what followed in its aftermath.

Awards

In 1986 Schlaifer received the Outstanding Graduate award from Syracuse University's School of Visual and Performing Arts, and gave the school's convocation address to the graduating class in the spring of the same year. He was also Founding Chairman of the Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta a former board member of

The Galloway School The Galloway School is a private school in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded by Elliott Galloway in 1969 and preschool through grade 12. History In 1969, Elliott Galloway, his wife Kitty and his friend Ross Arnold founded The Gall ...

and The Temple, both in Atlanta, Georgia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlaifer, Roger 1945 births Living people Syracuse University alumni Rhode Island School of Design alumni Art Center College of Design alumni Board game designers American graphic designers American marketing people 21st-century American inventors Artists from Newark, New Jersey