Soooo... I'm no historian, but from what I understand is during the Roman festival Saturnalia (the fore-runner to Christmas, a holiday cooked up by Pope Julius) they handed out man-shaped breads. Could this be the origin of the gingerbread dude? I have no idea, but it's a really interesting thought.
However, it'd be MORE interesting if we could catch a gingerbread dude on camera drinking nuclear waste... Oh wait, We've already DONE THAT! (Scroll it buddy!)