Gingerbread man

2025-09-10T00:28:33Z

2001:56A:FA05:5500:A825:EB9E:4DE8:56C8:

{{Short description|Cookie made from gingerbread in the shape of a human}}
{{about||the fairytale|The Gingerbread Man|other uses|Gingerbread Man (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox food
|name = Gingerbread man
|image = Gingerbread men.jpg
|image_size = 250px
|caption =
|country = [[England]]
|type = [[Cookie]]
|served =
|main_ingredient = [[Gingerbread]]
|variations =
|calories =
|cookbook = Gingerbread Cookies Frosted with Royal Icing
|other =
}}
A '''gingerbread man''' is a [[biscuit]] or [[cookie]] made from [[gingerbread]], usually in the shape of a stylized human being. However, other shapes, especially seasonal themes ([[Christmas]], [[Halloween]], [[Easter]], etc.), and characters are also common.

==History==
[[File:Gingy Cookie.jpg|thumb|A gingerbread man, with icing decoration]]
[[File:Gingerbread Cookies on Table.jpg|thumb|Freshly baked gingerbread people with a variety of decorations]]
Gingerbread dates from the 15th century and figurative biscuit-making was practised in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book|title=300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles|first1=Linda|last1=Campbell Franklin|edition=4th|publisher= Books Americana|location=New York|year=1998|page=183}}</ref> The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits was at the court of [[Elizabeth I of England]]. 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.<ref name="ref1">{{cite web|url=http://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/History/Gingerbread-Men.html|title=A History of Gingerbread Men|publisher=Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses|access-date=4 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807113922/http://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/History/Gingerbread-Men.html|archive-date=7 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lach|first1=Donald F. |author-link=Donald F. Lach|year=2010|title=Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume II: A Century of Wonder. Book 3: The Scholarly Disciplines|page=442|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
[[Image:Gingerbread landscape.jpg|thumb|Gingerbread man (styled after [[List of Shrek (franchise) characters|The Gingerbread Man]] from ''[[Shrek]]'') with his wife and dog in front of a [[gingerbread house]]]]
[[File:Gingerbreadmen salesman.jpg|thumb|Gingerbread salesman (1902)]]
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 (food)|icing]] or [[chocolate]] 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]]s, which are traditionally represented by [[gum drops]], icing, or raisins.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

==In world records==
According to the ''[[Guinness Book of Records]]'', the world's largest gingerbread man was made by the staff of the [[IKEA]] Furuset store in Oslo, Norway, on 9 November 2009. The gingerbread man weighed 1435.2 pounds (651 kg).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-gingerbread-man|title=Largest gingerbread man|work=[[Guinness Book of Records]] website|access-date=24 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tailgatefan.cbslocal.com/2013/12/24/gingerbread-house-takeover/|title=Gingerbread House Takeover|work=Tailgate Fan|first=Ali|last=Sands|date=24 December 2013|access-date=24 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419142709/http://tailgatefan.cbslocal.com/2013/12/24/gingerbread-house-takeover/|archive-date=19 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==In fiction and popular culture==
* "[[The Gingerbread Man]]" is a [[fairy tale]] about a gingerbread man who comes to life, outruns an elderly couple and various animals, and is devoured by a fox in the end.
** [[List of characters in the Shrek franchise|Gingy]] is a talking gingerbread man character in the ''[[Shrek]]'' series of animated movies. He is derived from the fairy tale character.
** The [[Jasper Fforde]] comic detective novel ''[[The Fourth Bear]]'' 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]]'s ballet ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' (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]]'' (1945).
* The Gingerbread Men were featured in ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. In the "[[Don Knotts]]" 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]] while the full-bodied Gingerbread Men were performed by [[Jim Henson]], [[Dave Goelz]], [[Richard Hunt (puppeteer)|Richard Hunt]], and
* In the film ''[[The Brothers Grimm (film)|The Brothers Grimm]]'', 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]] 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==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Gingerbread men}}

{{Cakes}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gingerbread men| ]]
[[Category:16th-century introductions]]
[[Category:Biscuits]]
[[Category:British cuisine]]
[[Category:Christmas food]]
[[Category:Ginger desserts]]
[[Category:Cookies]]
[[Category:Court of Elizabeth I]]
[[Category:Humanoids]]
[[Category:Food for children]]

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Gingerbread man