Mad Hatter

Published in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s book Alice in Wonderland has many eccentric characters in it. One that has links to mental illness is the Mad Hatter. The phrase “as mad as a hatter” predates Carroll’s writings (the first recorded written example being from an 1835 novel by the Canadian author Thomas Halliburton (Mad as a Hatter, 2007)), but it is from him that it really came to public attention. There are several possible explanations as to the source of the simile. Some aver that it derives from the name of a 17^th century eccentric, John Hatter; others that a real hatter,  Robert Crab, of Chesham, who received head injuries during the English Civil War and went on to develop religious delusions and thought of himself as a prophet, was the source. He gave all his goods to the poor and lived on dock leaves and grass (Jack, 2004). A third possibility is one Theophilus Carter, an Oxford cabinet maker and furniture dealer of the 1850s, renowned for eccentricity (Mad as a Hatter, 2007). He always wore a top hat, which would fit with the picture that Carroll gave of his Mad Hatter, and invented an alarm-clock bed which awoke the sleeper by tipping the bed over. Carroll would have been aware of this man when he himself was a don at Oxford University. However, most authorities seem to agree that it was the use of mercuric nitrate in the manufacture of felt hats that gave rise to the expression (Elder, Evans & Nizette, 2005; Gregory, 1987). This heavy metal compound was absorbed into the body and resulted in an organic psychosis (Levin, 2007: Noll, 2007).

The original illustration of the Mad Hatter, by Sir James Tenniel

References:

Elder, R., Evans, K., & Nizette, D. (2005). Psychiatric and mental health nursing. Marrickville, Australia: Elsevier Australia.

Gregory, R.L. (Ed.) (1987). The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Jack, A. (2004). Red herrings & white elephants – the origins of the phrases we use everyday. London, England: Perfect Bound.

Levin, P. (2007). From mad hatters to dental amalgams: heavy metals: toxicity and testing. Medical Laboratory Observer 39,  12, 20-26.

Mad as a Hatter (2007). Mad as a hatter. New Zealand Science Teacher 116, 4.

Noll, R. (2007). The encyclopedia of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. (3^rd edition). New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.