Problem is, the rain didn't let up when I finished watching. So I did a government assignment.... And then watched another adaptation from the SyFy channel called Alice. Oops. But all this movie watching did get me curious about one particular aspect- the Mad Hatter.
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| This classic Disney movie actually terrified me as a child. |
Disney's cartoon classic depicts him as a lisping, over-energetic, madman who is so demanding at tea time that he eventually drives Alice away. But if you look at the historical context of the Hatter, you'll find his madness does not fit at all.
The victorian reference to the mad hatter (though he was never called 'mad' in the original book) was explained by mercury poisoning. Hatters, who made the felt top hats which were so popular during the era, used mercury on the felt for a glossy finish. The long term exposure to mercury would soak into their hands and lungs and lead to neurological damage.
Specifically, mad hatter disease causes sensory hallucinations, slurred speech, anxiety, tremor and poor coordination, irritability, and depression. But the strange thing is, virtually none of the reincarnations of the Mad Hatter hold any of these symptoms. If anything, they make the Mad Hatter too manic and not timid enough.
Of course Lewis Carroll was no physician (he was a mathematics teacher at Oxford) so it's acceptable that he misrepresented the symptoms. But I find it fascinating to find the fact behind the fiction.
