For half a century, Fantasy Island Toys has been a fixture in downtown Fairhope, delighting generations of children with dolls, games, puzzles and the latest fads. Founder Jeane Byrd did not set out to open a toy store — the business grew gradually out of her interest in decoupage, then dollhouses and collectible furniture, until a salesman selling her a train suggested she start selling toys. “It was an evolutionary process,” said Byrd’s daughter, Kathie Byrd, who now reflects on the store’s history alongside her sister, Ginger Milligan. “She was always involved with children… I think that’s where her heart was.”
Byrd and Milligan grew up working in the store alongside their mother, watching it become woven into the fabric of the Eastern Shore community. In the 1980s, the store hosted doll “adoption” events for Cabbage Patch Kids, complete with a registered nurse — Milligan, who was a nurse at the time — checking the dolls’ vital signs before they went home with their new owners. The Cabbage Patch craze, particularly intense in 1983, drew lines of eager shoppers out the door. A decade later, Beanie Babies swept the store in a similar frenzy. “I’m telling you… Beanie Babies…” Milligan said, still shaking her head at the memory.
Byrd hosted Halloween parties on the family property and entered a float, prepared over weeks with family help, in the annual Christmas parade — including, one year, a giant handmade rocking horse. Those traditions reflect the store’s role as a true community gathering point in Fairhope, not just a retail shop.
Since 2022, Fantasy Island Toys has been owned by sisters Stevi Bell and Amanda Calhoun, who purchased the business from Byrd and Milligan. “We want to continue what Jeane, Ginger and Kathie built because it’s such a staple to the community,” Bell said. “The whole community feels ownership of the toy store. It’s theirs.” Calhoun agreed, emphasizing the importance of letting children explore. “I think it’s important to get the kids in the store and let them play and discover things on their own,” she said.
The newest owners are now navigating their own toy craze: the NeeDoh stress ball. “It’s been shocking,” Calhoun said. “We get, like, 70 calls a day about them. There’s different fillings, shapes and sizes and kids are hunting them. Their grandmothers are driving them around to all the stores. Their parents, too.” The toys, prized for their sensory qualities that can help with anxiety, focus and stress relief, are often gone within minutes of a new shipment arriving.
For Bell, the work is deeply personal. “It makes me want to cry,” she said. “It’s just the best thing that’s ever happened, career-wise. I get to lead the most fun community-centric business in the cutest family-oriented town surrounded by my family.” Fifty years after Jeane Byrd’s first toys hit the shelves, Fantasy Island Toys remains a family affair — one that Milligan and Byrd still visit as customers. “We still have people to shop for!” Byrd said with a laugh.
The crazes that filled the shelves
Cabbage Patch Kids, created by Georgia artist Xavier Roberts, were sold with “adoption papers” and a birth certificate rather than simply as dolls, which is what made in-store adoption events like Fantasy Island’s possible. Mass-market versions set off shopping frenzies across the country during the 1983 holiday season.
Beanie Babies, introduced by Ty Inc. in 1993, became a collecting phenomenon later in the decade. Today’s NeeDoh stress balls are made by toy company Schylling.
