As Mad As A Hatter

Do you know that the term “Mad as a Hatter” didn’t originate with Lewis Caroll? The term comes from the mental illness which affected those who made hats from animal pelt. The hatters who made the hats worked in very confined spaces and treated the pelts with mercury. The fumes then affected the hatter, and many were poisoned. This resulted in the hatters behaving in a peculiar fashion from the mercury poisoning.

The illustrator John Einnel was the illustrator for the Lewis Carroll book.

 At the time the cost of a top hat was ten shillings and sixpence, approximately €150 in today's money.

The 10th June has become the day for celebrating everything to do with Alice in Wonderland and has become known as Mad Hatter’s Day, even though Lewis Carrol never refers to the Hatter as “Mad Hatter”.

In 1948, the character of the Mad Hatter first appeared in Batman. Unlike Lewis’ character this character is a super villain.