The bakery was a business in District 12's town square, in the merchant section of town. It was run by the baker, Mr. Mellark, who lived there with his wife and three sons, most notably Peeta Mellark.
Description[]
In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the bakery was described as "small".[1] Merchants lived above their businesses, so by the time of the trilogy, this was the Mellark family's home. The kitchen and its ovens were in the back, radiating heat and the scent of baked goods. A trash bin sat behind the bakery, along with a pen that held the Mellarks' pig, and behind that, an apple tree.[2]
Products[]
The bakery naturally sold a variety of breads, and it offered other baked goods that most people in District 12 couldn't afford, like cookies[3] and cakes for special occasions, which Peeta decorated.[4] They also made a goat cheese and apple tart[5] and buns with cheese baked into the top, which were Katniss Everdeen's favorite.[6]
History[]
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes[]
The bakery was once owned by an unknown "beet-faced woman" who had "little interest in providing directions to nonpaying customers", so Coriolanus Snow and Sejanus Plinth traded for a loaf, which they shared with the Covey.[1]
The Hunger Games trilogy[]
Peeta in front of the bakery
When Katniss was eleven, her family starving after the loss of her father, Mrs. Mellark shouted at her for searching through their trash bin. Seeing this, Peeta intentionally dropped two large loaves of bread into the fire, and after feeding the burnt parts to the pig as instructed, he tossed the rest out into the rain for Katniss to take home.[2]
On the morning of the reaping, Gale Hawthorne traded a squirrel for a loaf of bakery bread, which he and Katniss ate at their meeting place in the woods.[7] Mr. Mellark gave Katniss cookies at the Justice Building after the ceremony.[3]
After winning the 74th Hunger Games, Peeta left the bakery and moved into a new house of his own in the Victors' Village, bringing Katniss and Haymitch baked goods[8] that likely came from the bakery. He was also known to go into town to eat dinner with his family.[9]
The bakery was eventually destroyed in the bombing of District 12, leaving nothing behind but a melted lump of metal from an oven.[10]
Trivia[]
- Henry River Mill Village in Hickory, North Carolina was used as a filming location for a number of District 12 scenes in the first film, including the Everdeen house and the Mellark bakery.[11] The village's onscreen fame later led to its purchase and use in tours, both for fans of the film and those interested in the place's history.
- The building used for the bakery used to be the company store of the Henry River Manufacturing Company.[12]
- Peeta and his family usually ate stale bread, as they couldn't afford the things they made themselves.[5]
- Prim would sometimes drag Katniss over to admire the cakes in the shop window.[4]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 24
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 3
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 7
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 23
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 10
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 1
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 1
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 7
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 1
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/locations/?item=lc2220133
- ↑ https://henryrivermillvillage.com/history/