The colloquial English phrase ‘mad as a hatter’ has been used in conversation for a long time, it suggests however lightheartedly, that a person is suffering from insanity, or is crazy. However, the basis of this phrase has a darker reality. It was derived from the hat making trade of the 18th and 19th centuries, when hat makers were exposed to mercury nitrate whilst processing felting and treating animal furs. The prolonged exposure to the mercury vapours caused a neurological disorder known as erethism, or mad hatter disease. Symptoms included tremors, mood swings, depression, hallucinations and delusions, slurred speech and memory problems.
When we watch a character ‘playing’ the Mad Hatter of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll fame, we are actually witnessing a very distressing affliction. Carroll would have been familiar with this affliction and may have incorporated the effects within the story after growing up in Stockport where there was a thriving millinery industry.
Like many fairy tales, and childhood nursery rhymes the origins of such characters are founded in deep seated warnings, or beliefs, or in this case reality. For example, ring around the roses, is actually about the stages of the bubonic plague in 1665 in London, UK.
Ring-a-ring o’ roses - Refers to the red blotches on the skin
A pocket full of posies - Posies were sweet-smelling flowers people carried to try to ward off the plague
A-tishoo! A-tishoo! - Mimics the sneezing fits of people with pneumonic plague
We all fall down. - Invoking the victims’ demise
Today the Mad Hatter is seen as an eccentric character with whimsical overtures mainly due to the numerous caricatures, movies and cartoons depicting him. He is a beloved personality from childhood we love to watch, negating the dark beginnings he stemmed from.
0 Comments