Mad as a Hatter
Johnny Depp is truly mad as a hatter in the latest installment of Alice in Wonderland. My children were (mildly) interested to find out that hatters invariably inhaled vapors from mercury – used to cure animal pelts – given off during the hat making process.
During Lewis Carroll’s life in England from the mid to late 1800’s, hatters were commonly seen to be disturbed and confused, with distorted vision and befuddled speech. Fitting for an author who, though not exposed to mercury poisoning himself, would become known for creating the genre of literary nonsense.
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