Editing Mad Hatter (section)

==Characterization==
[[File:Alice par John Tenniel 38.png|thumb|right|upright 0.75|The Hatter enjoying a cup of tea and bread-and-butter, by [[Sir John Tenniel]].]]

===Etymology===
[[Mercury (element)|Mercury]] was used in the manufacturing of felt hats during the 19th century, causing a high rate of [[mercury poisoning]] among those working in the hat industry.{{sfn|Myers|2003|p=276}} Mercury poisoning causes neurological damage, including slurred speech, memory loss, and tremors, which led to the phrase "[[mad as a hatter]]".{{sfn|Myers|2003|p=276}} In the [[Victorian era|Victorian age]], many workers in the textile industry, including hatters, sometimes developed illnesses affecting the nervous system, such as central nervous system (CNS) tuberculosis, which is portrayed in novels like ''[[Alton Locke]]'' by [[Charles Kingsley]] and ''[[North and South (Gaskell novel)|North and South]]'' by [[Elizabeth Gaskell]], which [[Lewis Carroll]] had read. Many such workers were sent to Pauper Lunatic Asylums, which were supervised by Lunacy Commissioners such as Samuel Gaskell and [[Robert Wilfred Skeffington Lutwidge]], Carroll's uncle. Carroll was familiar with the conditions at asylums and visited at least one, the Surrey County Asylum, himself, which treated patients with so-called [[Moral treatment|non-restraint methods]] and occupied them, amongst others, in gardening, farming and hat-making.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last1=Kohlt|first1=Franziska|title='The Stupidest Tea-Party in All My Life': Lewis Carroll and Victorian Psychiatric Practice|journal=Journal of Victorian Culture|date=26 April 2016|volume=22|issue=2|pages=147–167|doi=10.1080/13555502.2016.1167767}}</ref> Besides staging theatre plays, dances and other amusements, such asylums also held tea-parties.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tuke|first1=Samuel|title=Description of the Retreat, an institution near York, for insane persons of the Society of Friends : containing an account of its origin and progress, the modes of treatment, and a statement of cases|date=1813|location=York|page=111|url=https://archive.org/stream/2575045R.nlm.nih.gov/2575045R#page/n111/mode/2up/search/tea|publisher=Philadelphia : Published by Isaac Peirce ...}}</ref>

===Appearance===
Although, during the trial of the Knave of Hearts, the King of Hearts remarks upon the Hatter's headgear, Carroll does not describe the exact style of hat he wears.  The character's signature top hat comes from John Tenniel's illustrations for the first edition, in which the character wears a large top hat with a hatband reading "In this style 10/6". This is further elaborated on in ''[[The Nursery "Alice"]]'', a shortened version of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', adapted by the author himself for young children. Here it is stated that the character is wearing a hat on his head with a price tag containing the numbers 10 and 6, giving the price in [[British coinage#Pre-decimal coinage|pre-decimal British money]] as ten [[shilling]]s and six [[penny|pence]] (or [[Half guinea|half a guinea]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Carroll |title=The Nursery 'Alice' |publisher=Macmillan |pages=40 |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00076726/00001/51j |access-date=23 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

===Personality===
[[File:March-hare.jpg|thumb|right|upright 0.75|Illustration of the March Hare, one of the Hatter's tea party friends, by [[Sir John Tenniel]].]]
The Hatter and his tea party friend, the [[March Hare]], are initially referred to as "both mad" by the distinctive [[Cheshire Cat]]. The first mention of both characters occurs in the sixth chapter of Carroll's ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', titled "Pig and Pepper", in a conversation between the child protagonist [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]] and the Cheshire Cat, when she asks "what sort of people live about here?" to which the cat replies "in ''that'' direction lives a Hatter, and in ''that'' direction, lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad!" Both then subsequently make their actual debuts in the seventh chapter of the same book, which is titled "A Mad Tea-Party". Alice elects to visit the March Hare (reasoning he may be less mad as it is May) but of course meets both at the Tea Party.

Hat making was the main trade in [[Stockport]] where Carroll grew up, and it was not unusual then for hatters to appear disturbed or confused; many died early as a result of mercury poisoning. However, the Hatter does not exhibit the symptoms of mercury poisoning, which include excessive timidity, diffidence, increasing shyness, loss of self-confidence, anxiety, and a desire to remain unobserved and unobtrusive.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=24 December 1983 |pmc=1550196 |last1=Waldron |first1=H. A. |title=Did the Mad Hatter have mercury poisoning? |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=287 |issue=6409 |page=1961 |doi=10.1136/bmj.287.6409.1961 |pmid=6418283 }}</ref>

===Resemblance to Theophilus Carter===
It has often been claimed that the Hatter's character may have been inspired by [[Theophilus Carter]], an eccentric furniture dealer.{{sfn|Hancher|1985|p=101}}<ref name=Times>Millikan, Lauren (5 March 2011). [http://www.carleton.edu/departments/ENGL/Alice/FootHatter.html "The Mad Hatter"]. Carleton University. Retrieved 14 June 2015.</ref> Carter was supposedly at one time a [[servitor]] at [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]], one of the [[University of Oxford]]'s colleges.{{sfn|Collingwood|2011|p=47}} This is not substantiated by university records.{{sfn|Collingwood|2011|p=47}} 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.{{sfn|Hancher|1985|p=101}}<ref name=Times/> Sir [[John Tenniel]] is reported to have come to Oxford especially to sketch him for his illustrations.{{sfn|Hancher|1985|p=101}} There is no evidence for this claim, however, in either Carroll's letters or diaries.<ref>Maters, Kristin (27 January 2014). [http://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/who-really-inspired-lewis-carrolls-alice-characters "Who Really Inspired Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' Characters?"]. Books Tell You Why. Retrieved 14 June 2015.</ref>