A gingerbread man is a

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

made from

gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly ...

, usually in the shape of a stylized human being. However, other shapes, especially seasonal themes (

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, etc.), and characters are also common.

History

Gingerbread dates from the 15th century and figurative biscuit-making was practised in the 16th century. The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits was at the court of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests, who brought the human shape of the gingerbread cookies.

Characteristics

Most gingerbread men share a roughly humanoid shape, with stubby feet and no fingers. Many gingerbread people have a face, though whether the features are indentations within the face itself or other candies stuck on with icing or

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

varies from recipe to recipe. Other decorations are common; hair, shirt cuffs, and shoes are sometimes applied, but by far the most popular decoration is shirt

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, or ...

s, which are traditionally represented by

gum drops Gumdrops are a type of gummy candy. They are brightly colored pectin-based pieces, shaped like a narrow dome (sometimes with a flattened top), often coated in granulated sugar and having fruit and spice flavors; the latter are also known as spic ...

, icing, or raisins.

In world records

According to the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'', the world's largest gingerbread man was made by the staff of the

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

Furuset store in Oslo, Norway, on 9 November 2009. The gingerbread man weighed 1435.2 pounds (651 kg).

In fiction and popular culture

* "

The Gingerbread Man "The Gingerbread Man" (also known as "The Gingerbread Boy") is a fairy tale about a gingerbread man's misadventures while fleeing from various people that culminates in the titular character being eaten by a fox. "The Gingerbread Boy" first appe ...

" is a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

about a gingerbread man who comes to life, outruns an elderly couple and various animals, and is devoured by a fox in the end. ** Gingy is a talking gingerbread man character in the ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

'' series of animated movies. He is derived from the fairy tale "The Gingerbread Man". ** The

Jasper Fforde Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist whose first novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his '' Thursday Next'' novels, but has also published two books in the loosely connected '' Nurser ...

comic detective novel ''

The Fourth Bear ''The Fourth Bear'' is a mystery/fantasy novel by Jasper Fforde published in July 2006. It is Jasper Fforde's sixth novel, and the second in the Nursery Crimes series (also known as the Jack Spratt series). It continues the story of Detective I ...

'' features a more-than-human-sized gingerbread man who is a psychopathic serial killer who likes to pull off his victims' limbs. The difficulties in catching him are a reference to the fairy tale. * In

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

's ballet ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' (1892), the eponymous hero leads an army of gingerbread men against the Mouse King and his fellows. * The Gingerbread People are the main characters in the game ''

Candy Land ''Candy Land'' is a simple racing board game created by Eleanor Abbott and published by Milton Bradley in 1949. The game requires no reading and minimal counting skills, making it suitable for young children. No strategy is involved as players ...

'' (1945). * The Gingerbread Men were featured in ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

''. In the "

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

" episode, the Gingerbread Men sing the song " Sweet Gingerbread Man" as the opening number. The lead Gingerbread Man is a hand-rod Muppet performed by

Frank Oz Frank Richard Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), known professionally as Frank Oz, is an American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through ''The Muppets'', ''Sesame Street'', and '' ...

while the full-bodied Gingerbread Men were performed by

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

Dave Goelz David Charles Goelz ( born July 16, 1946) is an American puppeteer and actor known for his work with the Muppets. He is best known for performing the characters Gonzo the Great, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot, and Beauregard. He joined Jim Hens ...

, Richard Hunt, and * In the film ''

The Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of folktales, popularizing stories such as " Cin ...

'', a nightmarish twist on the Gingerbread Man appears. A young child is splashed with mud, which steals the child's eyes, nose, and mouth. It then forms a small mud body with the child's stolen features for a face. The creature grabs the child and absorbs her into itself. It runs off yelling, "You can't catch me; I'm the Gingerbread Man!" * The first game in the '' Cookie Run'' series, ''Ovenbreak'', is a

runner game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

that puts players in the role of GingerBrave, a gingerbread man running to escape from the Witch's Oven. Subsequent games would introduce numerous other "Cookies", iterations of gingerbread men based on different combinations of ingredients and character archetypes.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 16th-century introductions Biscuits British cuisine Christmas food Ginger desserts Cookies Court of Elizabeth I Humanoids