The annotations for the Gingerbread Man fairy tale are below. Sources have been cited in parenthetical references, but I have not linked them directly to their full citations which appear on the Gingerbread Man Bibliography page. I have provided links back to the Annotated Gingerbread Man to facilitate referencing between the notes and the tale.
1. Now you shall hear a story that somebody's
great-great-grandmother told a little girl ever so many years
ago: This introduction was included to the tale when it was published
in St. Nicholas magazine in 1875, unfortunately without
source notes. However, the tale was already well-known at the time
and popular with children. It is interesting to note the chain of
female storytellers shown in this introduction. A grandmother told
a little girl who is apparently now passing along the story as an
adult to another generation. While this introduction is primarily
a literary device here, it still supports the role of women as
storytellers and heads of the kitchen where gingerbread is
made.
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2. A little old man and a little old woman: While we are first introduced to the old couple in the story,
this tale is not really theirs, but that of the gingerbread
man.
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3. Little old house: Note that this is not a romantic fairy tale. It is set in a
rural, agrarian setting far away from royalty and/or romance. It
is a tale of whimsy for the lower classes.
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4. Edge of a wood: Magic is often found in the woods in fairy tales. Perhaps the
wood supplied the magic needed to bring the gingerbread man to
life in this story.
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5. They had no little child, and they wished for one very
much: Folklore often tells the stories of infertile couples and
wished-for children. Sleeping Beauty was finally born to infertile parents, for example.
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6. Baking gingerbread: The rich tradition of baking gingerbread in Europe has lead to its inclusion in folklore. Gingerbread comes in many colors and consistencies, but is usually firm enough to hold a shape or support weight more than other baked goods, hence the popularity of gingerbread figures and houses.
To read an excellent history of gingerbread as a food, visit The History of Gingerbread.
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7. Shape of a little boy: Boy-shaped gingerbread is one of the most popular shapes for
gingerbread cookies. While the story doesn't say so, one wonders
if the old woman chooses the shape in her hunger for a child of
her own.
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8. Put it into the oven: Ovens are often seen as a womb symbol or symbol of birth and
transformation in folklore. It's not surprising that the
gingerbread boy springs alive from the womb-like oven.
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9. Little gingerbread boy jumped out: Carlo Collodi's Pinnochio is another famous story,
although not a traditional fairy tale, in which an inanimate
object comes to life.
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10. Began to run away as fast as he could go: This tale, and others like it, are popular in many cultures. Many of the tales are classified under a tale type system called the Aarne-Thompson Classification system. Tales like this one are classified as AT 2025: The Fleeing Pancake. Usually the runaway item is a baked good, such as pancake. You can read about other traditional tales of this type on the Tales Similar to the Gingerbread Man page. These days many authors like to reinterpret the tale into their own cultures. You can see many of these picture books on the Book Gallery For Gingerbread Man page.
In some variations of the tale, the pancake or gingerbread man
does not run a way until someone or an animal starts to eat
him.
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11. They could not catch him: The entire impetus of the story is the chase. As we add several
characters to the chase, comedy and drama ensues. Will anyone
catch the gingerbread man? We won't know until the climax of the
story.
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12. Barn full of threshers: Before the invention of threshing machines, farm workers, also
known as threshers, would separate seeds or grain from the husks
and straw after a grain harvest.
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13. I've run away from a little old woman,/ A little old man,/
And I can run away from you, I can!: The Gingerbread Man is a popular type of tale called
the cumulative tale. In a cumulative tale, we find little plot but
a lot of rhythm and repetition, such as the gingerbread man's
chase and accompanying rhyme as he taunts his pursuers. A new
element is added on to the previous list of events until the
climax and end of the story. Other well-known cumulative tales in
folklore include The House That Jack Built and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.
The version of the tale I grew up with included the refrain: "Run,
run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread
Man!"
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14. Field full of mowers: Before the invention of mechanical mowers, farm workers, also
known as mowers, would work in the fields to cut down grass,
usually with scythes.
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15. Cow: A
cow would is not known as an agile or fast animal. It is also not
considered to be very intelligent. It won't be able to catch the
gingerbread with its body or mind.
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16. Pig: A
pig, while often faster than a cow, is not known for its great
speed either. It is not an intelligent animal either. It's
reputation for greediness still makes it somewhat of a threat to
the gingerbread man's future. Just like the cow, it won't be able
to catch the gingerbread with its body or mind.
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17. Fox: The fox usually appears as the animal
which eats the gingerbread man. The fox usually uses his cunning
and wiles, not his speed, to catch the gingerbread man. Usually
the gingerbread man reaches a body of water he cannot cross and
the fox offers to carry him across. Once they are out in the
water, the fox eats the gingerbread man who can no longer run
away. In other versions, the fox tells the gingerbread man (or
other food item) that he cannot hear him and asks him to come
closer. Once the gingerbread man is close enough, the fox quickly
gobbles him up.
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18. "Oh dear! I'm quarter gone!": This version of the story details the gingerbread man's demise.
He is eaten in four bites by the fox. This ending is usually
considered too lingering (and gruesome) for modern versions in
which the gingerbread is eaten in one large gulp.
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19. "I'm all gone!": We can't guess how the gingerbread man is able to say this since
he is all eaten up!
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20. Never spoke again: The gingerbread man is eaten--as is right since he is foodstuff
and not really a little boy--and thus ends the story. Not happily
ever after, but with the end of his life. Never fear, there are
always more gingerbread men to be made and eaten.
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