Chase's published version with background notes is found in Grandfather Tales . Mrs. Sigmon is not a fairy godmother, nor is she a witch. While the tale seems to be better known in the United States than in Great Britain, it has been found in Scotland and Ireland. Chase collected versions of the tale from R. M. Ward and Elisha Rasnik. In October 1995 Orville Hicks, a North Carolina storyteller, told the story at the Blue Ridge Folk Life Festival on the campus of Ferrum College.
Activities Retell the story with different types of animals.
List similarities and differences in the two stories. Sloan, a native of Ferrum, had heard the story from his father P. T. Sloan, a teacher and rural mail carrier in the Ferrum area. Raymond Sloan was a collector for the WPA writer's project, as were Richard Chase and James Taylor Adams. The story begins with Jack working as a silversmith's apprentice in a little village called Ferrum. With a lump of silver he is off to seek his fortune, but encounters a number of shysters who entice him to make one bad trade after another.