"The Elves and the Shoemaker" is an often copied and re-made 1806 story about a poor shoemaker who receives help from elves. The original story is the first of three fairy tales, contained as entry 39 in the German Grimm's Fairy Tales. A poor shoemaker and his wife need money to pay the rent. He gives away the last pair of shoes to a needy lady. Elves come in the night and make a pair of shoes which he sells for more than his asking price the next day. He uses that money to pay the rent, buy food and more shoe leather. He feeds a poor traveller. He has leather to make one more pair of shoes. The elves come the next night and make two pairs of shoes with the additional leather. He gives away one pair to a needy person and sells the other pair. He buys leather for three shoes, and stays up to find the elves making the shoes. The shoemaker and wife make clothes for the elves the next day, but the elves are lifted from their obligation when given clothes, so the elves leave, and the shoemaker and his wife never see them again. George Cruikshank (September 27, 1792 - February 1, 1878) was an English caricaturist and book illustrator. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience. After developing palsy in later life, his health and work began to decline in quality. He died in 1878 at the age of 85. In his lifetime he created nearly 10,000 prints, illustrations, and plates.