Hansel and Gretel New for 2010

Hansel's Treats 101110

Gretel's Lebkuchen101010

Wicked Witch of Gingerbread 100910

These ornaments were created using the new "Life Touch"  Life Touch is introduced by Inge-Glas, an amazing development adding to their colorful 400 year family history of German glass blowers; a classy new and innovative painting technique known as "Life Touch." With precise and meticulous detail, skillfully trained Inge-Glas master artists apply ultra fine feather strokes revealing delicate life touches to enhance their uniquely beautiful Christmas ornaments.

*From Wikipedia*

Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter. They have an evil step-mother who convinces the father to abandon the children in the woods as there is not enough food to feed the whole family. Hansel, aware of the plan, leaves a trail of pebbles back to the house so he and his sister find their way back home. The step-mother is angry and locks the two children up for the night with only a loaf of bread and water. The next night, the woodcutter attempts the same plan again; this time Hansel leaves a trail of bread-crumbs but they get eaten by hungry birds and the two children get lost in the woods.


After wandering around, Hansel and Gretel stumble across a house made of gingerbread and other confectionery. They are very hungry and begin to eat it. It is owned by an evil old witch who lures them inside. She traps Hansel in a cage and forces Gretel to do the housework, continually sweeping the house. She feeds Hansel lots of food with the intention of eating him. Her eyesight is very bad so every day she feels his finger to see if he is fat enough, but he holds out a chicken bone instead of his real finger. Eventually the witch decides to eat him anyway and turns on the oven. Gretel comes up behind her and kicks her into it, shuts the door firmly and padlocks it. They hang around in the house for a couple of days eating the sweets and they find some valuable gold coins. Once they are convinced that the witch is completely burnt they successfully find their way home and are met by their ecstatic father. He tells them that his evil wife is dead and they are now rich because of the gold coins' value. They all live happily ever after.

 

Artwork by Arthur Rackham, 1909

Grimm's Fairy Tales