Mad Hatter Madness
The Hatter, or more commonly know as The Mad Hatter, is a highly known character from the story Alice's Adventure in Wonderland written by Lewis Carroll.
The Mad Hatter has been featured in many adaptions of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, but the most well-known adaptions are the animation and live action films from Disney.
The Mad Hatter, best friend to the March Hare, is always found having tea at their never-ending tea party with the Dormouse.
In the books, the reason for this never-ending tea party was because the Mad Hatter had argued with Time and because of that he halted himself so that the Mad Hatter and March Hare would be stuck at 6:00 pm, tea time, forever.
In the Disney adaptions, the reason for their tea party every day was because they were busy celebrating their "Unbirthday" which the Mad Hatter and March Hare explain to Alice,
The Mad Hatter is someone whose quite, well, mad to say the least. In the 19th century, the phrase "mad as a hatter" came about because of what the overexposure of mercury used when manufacturing felt hats did to the workers.
The technical name for it was erethism, but was better known as "The Mad Hatter Disease". Because of the frequent use of the chemical, those in the hatting industry suffered from a high rate of mercury poisoning which caused them neurological damage.
The damage caused could leave those with various amount of symptoms including emotional instability, mental confusion, red fingers, toes and cheeks, slurred speech, memory loss, tremors, and sweating.
Perhaps this disease was what inspired Carroll to write his mad character in the first place? Of course, there are a few other theories as to where Carroll had gotten his inspiration for this quirky character of his.
One thing is for certain though. The Mad Hatter is someone who has left quite the unique and mad story behind for us all, not just Alice.
The Mad Hatter has been featured in many adaptions of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, but the most well-known adaptions are the animation and live action films from Disney.
The Mad Hatter, best friend to the March Hare, is always found having tea at their never-ending tea party with the Dormouse.
In the books, the reason for this never-ending tea party was because the Mad Hatter had argued with Time and because of that he halted himself so that the Mad Hatter and March Hare would be stuck at 6:00 pm, tea time, forever.
In the Disney adaptions, the reason for their tea party every day was because they were busy celebrating their "Unbirthday" which the Mad Hatter and March Hare explain to Alice,
March Hare: "Imagine just one birthday every year."
Mad Hatter: "Ah, but there are 364 unbirthdays."
March Hare: "Precisely why we're gathered here to cheer!"
The Mad Hatter is someone whose quite, well, mad to say the least. In the 19th century, the phrase "mad as a hatter" came about because of what the overexposure of mercury used when manufacturing felt hats did to the workers.
The technical name for it was erethism, but was better known as "The Mad Hatter Disease". Because of the frequent use of the chemical, those in the hatting industry suffered from a high rate of mercury poisoning which caused them neurological damage.
The damage caused could leave those with various amount of symptoms including emotional instability, mental confusion, red fingers, toes and cheeks, slurred speech, memory loss, tremors, and sweating.
Perhaps this disease was what inspired Carroll to write his mad character in the first place? Of course, there are a few other theories as to where Carroll had gotten his inspiration for this quirky character of his.
One thing is for certain though. The Mad Hatter is someone who has left quite the unique and mad story behind for us all, not just Alice.
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I love it! I never knew that the mad hatter argued with time and it was 6 pm forever. I also had no idea that he was mad because of the felt in his hat! What a great read!
ReplyDeleteVery informative, Love the pictures!
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