The Tale of Ginger and Pickles is a Beatrix Potter story about two friends who open a general store together. They offer unlimited credit, making their shop wildly popular for a short time, but eventually leaving them in financial ruins.
This story provides examples of:
- An Aesop: A series of aesops about how to run a successful business.
- Animal Jingoism:
- Averted for cats vs. dogs: Ginger and Pickles are a cat-and-dog business duo, and neither the characters nor the narrator seem to find this odd.
- Played straight for rabbits vs. dogs: the rabbit patrons fear Pickles.
- Artistic License – Economics: Done intentionally: Ginger and Pickles' shaky grasp on basic economics is what causes their store to fail, supplying the story's aesop.
- The Cameo: Lucinda and Jane visit the shop, and Tabitha Twitchit runs the competing store.
- Carnivore Confusion: Addressed: Ginger and Pickles ask each other to serve the mice and rats respectively because doing business with them in person is too mouth-watering. As to why they don't just eat said mice and rats, Pickles observes that it would be bad for business.
- Edible Theme Naming: The dog is named Pickles.
- Funny Animal: The shopkeepers, a cat and dog, walk on their hind legs, talk, and wear clothes.
- Furry Reminder: While the shopkeepers are mostly anthropomorphic, they're tempted to eat mice (for Ginger) and rats (for Pickles), they're sometimes seen on all fours, Pickles requires a dog license and barks when scared, and Ginger tells Pickles to bite the living police doll.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The shopkeepers generally wear shirts without pants.
- Living Toys: A couple of dolls patronize the shop, and a policeman doll comes in once, making Pickles very nervous (since he hasn't got a dog license).
- Mistaken for Thief: Pickles thinks that a customer named Anna Maria stole all the cream crackers, forgetting that he was the one who ate them.
- Only Shop in Town: Part of why Ginger and Pickles' shop is so popular. There's only one other store in town and it doesn't offer credit.
- Species Surname: John Dormouse is an actual dormouse.
- Stock Animal Diet: Ginger eats fish and is tempted to eat mice.
- Stock Animal Name: Ginger is a marmalade cat.
