The Tale of Ginger and Pickles is story about a cat and a terrier and the shop they run together. It was first published by Frederick Warne & Co in 1909 in a large format, allowing Potter to illustrate in precise detail. The author was inspired to write this book by a shop in Sawrey where villagers often gathered to buy goods and to gossip and socialise. Potter dedicated the tale to the shop owner and blacksmith John Taylor whose wife and daughter ran the shop when he was unable to leave his bed due to ill health. Potter created the character John Dormouse for him, but sadly he did not survive to see the completion of the book. Ginger, the cat, was modelled on the schoolmistress’ pet, Tommy Bunkle, who Potter thought an odd, unique and unusual creature. The book was a gift for Louie Warne, the daughter of her publisher Harold, to whom Potter had grown close. The illustrator worked on the project in the summer of 1909, during her stay at a country house near Bowness-on-Windermere and completed the book by the end of August.
In the narrative, Ginger and Pickles run the local village shop together and manage to inspire fear in many of their customers; the mice fear Ginger and the rabbits are very watchful of Pickles. The shop owners must control their predatory instincts in order to sell products and attain financial security. Unfortunately they allow their customers unlimited credit which results in bankruptcy. The shop’s closing is exploited by Tabitha Twitchit, who owns the other village shop; she drives the prices up, upsetting the villagers. Potter includes many of her popular characters in the tale including not only Tabitha, but Mrs Twiggy-Winkle, Peter Rabbit and Samuel Whiskers. The reappearance of previous characters contributes to the creation of a Potter universe. However, this book explores the human world through a cast of animals; the notions of finance, village life and interacting with neighbours in a professional and personal manner.