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Mad Hatter
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The Hatter is a fictional character initially encountered at a tea party in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and later again as "Hatta" in the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is popularly referred to as the "Mad Hatter," but is never called by this name in Carroll's book - although the Cheshire Cat does warn Alice that he is mad, and the Hatter's eccentric behavior supports this. (Likewise, the chapter in which he first appears, "A Mad Tea-Party," is often called "The Mad Hatter's Tea Party").
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Encyclopedia
The Hatter is a fictional character initially encountered at a tea party in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and later again as "Hatta" in the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is popularly referred to as the "Mad Hatter," but is never called by this name in Carroll's book - although the Cheshire Cat does warn Alice that he is mad, and the Hatter's eccentric behavior supports this. (Likewise, the chapter in which he first appears, "A Mad Tea-Party," is often called "The Mad Hatter's Tea Party"). He has been portrayed on film by Edward Everett Horton, Sir Robert Helpmann, Martin Short, Peter Cook, Anthony Newley, Ed Wynn and, in a music video, by Tom Petty.
Appearances in the Alice books
in a teapot]]
The Hatter explains to Alice that he and the March Hare are always having tea because, when he tried to sing for the Queen of Hearts at a celebration of hers, she sentenced him to death for "murdering the time," but escaped decapitation. He comes to the conclusion that time itself was indeed "murdered," he and the March Hare continue to have tea as though the clock had truly stopped. His tea party, when Alice arrives, is characterised by switching places on the table at any given time, making (along with the March Hare) somewhat short, personal remarks, asking unanswerable riddles and reciting nonsensical poetry, all of which eventually drive Alice away. He appears again as a witness at the Knave of Hearts' trial, where the Queen appears to recognise him as the singer she sentenced to death, and the King also cautions him not to be nervous "or I'll have you executed on the spot."
When the character makes his appearance as "Hatta" in Through the Looking-Glass, he is in trouble with the law once again. This time, however, he is not necessarily guilty: the White Queen explains that quite often subjects are punished before they commit a crime, rather than after, and sometimes they do not even commit it at all. He is also mentioned as being one of the White King's messengers, and the March Hare appears as well as "Haigha," since the King explains that he needs two messengers: "one to come, and one to go." Sir John Tenniel's illustration also depicts him as sipping from a teacup as he did before in the prequel, adding weight to Carroll's hint that the two characters are indeed the same.
"Mad as a hatter"
Although name 'Mad Hatter' was undoubtedly inspired by the phrase "as mad as a hatter," there is some uncertainty as to the origins of this phrase. As mercury was used in the process of curing felt used in some hats, it was impossible for hatters to avoid inhaling the mercury fumes given off during the hat making process. Hatters and mill workers often suffered mercury poisoning as residual mercury vapor caused neurological damage including confused speech and distorted vision. It was not unusual then for hatters to appear disturbed or mentally confused, many died early as a result of mercury poisoning. However, the Mad Hatter does not exhibit the symptoms of mercury poisoning. Principal symptoms of mercury poisoning are "excessive timidity, diffidence, increasing shyness, loss of self-confidence, anxiety, and a desire to remain unobserved and unobtrusive."
10/6
The "10/6" card or label on the Hatter's hat means ten shillings and six pence (or half a guinea), the price of the hat in pre-decimalised British money and acts as a visual indication of the hatter's trade. (There were 20 shillings to the pound, 12 pence to a shilling ... thus 10/6 = 126 pence.) With inflation analysis up to 1974, 126 pence equals about $23.83 in 1974 US dollars, around $105 in Oct 2008 spending power. So this was likely to indicate a nice hat. Given the price, and size/appearance of the hat (exceedingly large), it is unknown if this was a joke, or if the hatter was charging 10/6 for the hat. He may have simply just forgotten to remove the price, or was borrowing the hat from his inventory to wear.
Model
One of the claimants to be the true Hatter is generally believed to be based on Theophilus Carter, at one time a servitor at Christ Church, one of the University of Oxford's colleges. He invented an alarm clock bed, exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, that tipped out the sleeper at waking-up time. He later owned a furniture shop, and became known as the Mad Hatter from his habit of standing in the door of his shop wearing a top hat. Sir John Tenniel is reported to have come to Oxford especially to sketch him for his illustrations.
Another is Roger Crab of Chesham, Buckinghamshire. He enlisted in the English army, what was to become the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, in 1642. Crab was a good soldier and stood a full 6ft 7in and terrified the men he fought against. Over the next few years, he travelled with the Roundheads as they viciously crushed revolts in Ireland and Scotland. During the Siege of Colchester in 1648 Crab received a knock. He escaped with his life but was badly stunned by a blow on the head from a Royalist soldier. The injury led to early discharge from the army and he returned to his home town of Chesham, where he set up in business as a hatter.
He was a success but the blow on the head was affecting Crab. He sold the business and gave his money to the poor, opting for a solitary life, living in a tree near Uxbridge and became a pacifist. He then moved to the secluded village of Bethnal Green, where he subsisted on three farthings a week, eating grass, mallow and dock leaves. Crab then developed a talent for telling the future. Ironically for a former Roundhead, one of his visions was that the monarchy would be restored and, in 1660, the son of the executed Charles took the throne as Charles II. The diet of grass did the old man’s health no harm. He lived to the ripe age of 79, dying in 1680. He is remembered on his tomb in Stepney’s St Dunstan’s churchyard with the following epitaph. “Through good and ill reports he past, oft censured, yet approved at last … a friend to everything that’s good.”
The Mad Hatter's riddle
In the chapter "A Mad Tea Party", the Mad Hatter asks a famous riddle: "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" When Alice gives up, the Hatter admits he does not have an answer himself. Lewis Carroll originally intended the riddle to be just a riddle without an answer, but after many requests from readers, he and others, including puzzle expert Sam Loyd, thought up possible answers to the riddle. One possible answer is "Poe wrote on both", a reference to Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote The Raven. It should also be noted that in the preface to the 1896 edition, Carroll wrote:
As noted in The Annotated Alice, given that later editions "corrected" the word "nevar" as "never" the subtle wordplay within the palindrome for "raven" was lost on most of his readers.
Popular culture
The Mad Hatter character appears in a number of other places:
- The Mad Hatter is a DC Comics supervillain and a foe of Batman, modelled on the Wonderland character.
- The song "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" written by Bernie Taupin, sung by Elton John on the album Honky Château, and covered by Mandy Moore on her Coverage album.
- In the computer game American McGee's Alice, a gothic sequel of the story, the Mad Hatter is warped into a mad scientist obsessed with time. He has turned the March Hare and the Dormouse into steampunk cyborgs, and has plans to turn all the Wonderland inhabitants into his automaton robots. He has also turned himself into a robot, a fact made obvious when Alice defeats him.
- Belial is a character known as "the Mad Hatter" in the Japanese comic Angel Sanctuary.
- In one episode of the animated television series Futurama, "Insane in the Mainframe", a robot in a mental house dresses and acts like the Mad Hatter. He is seen pouring either tea or oil into an overflowing cup and randomly shouting, "Change Places!" Making the robots scatter about the table, looking for a new seat. This character also appears in Bender's Game.
- Hatter M is a dark comic book that features what it claims is the real version of the Hatter — a bodyguard and soldier who wields a bladed hat, based on the character from The Looking Glass Wars.
- Charisma Records, the progressive record label owned by Tony Stratton-Smith, used the image of the Mad Hatter prominently in its logo in the 1970s.
- In the anime, Ouran High School Host Club, the character Tamaki Suoh plays the part of the Mad Hatter in the episode "Haruhi in Wonderland".
- The Mad Hatter makes a cameo appearance in Shel Silverstein's book, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book, extolling Uncle Shelby.
- The Disney version of the Hatter from Alice in Wonderland is featured as a guest in House of Mouse and Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, as well as the animated series Bonkers
- The Mad Hatter also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.
- The Mad Hatter is seen in the South Park "Imaginationland" trilogy.
- The Mad Hatter (along with the March Hare and the Dormouse) who stopped the Timmy's parent's car to find Timmy appears in the Channel Chasers sequel, Channel Chasers 2: The Great Escape.
- In the lyrics of The Magnetic Fields song "I Shatter" on the album 69 Love Songs.
Further reading
- Heavens to Betsy! and Other Curious Sayings, Charles Earle Funk. HarperCollins Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-06-051331-4
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