Mercury poisoning among hat-makers is widely believed to be the origin of the proverbial saying mad as a hatter.
John Tenniel’s illustration of the tea party scene in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Accompanying Alice at the table is March Hare, the Dormouse and the Hatter.
It is from Milan that the term millinery or hat-making comes from.
Mercury was first used in hat-making in France.
A worker at a Connecticut hat manufacturing plant treating a hat under water.
This condition was so obvious that it came to known as hatters shakes.
The most remarkable change, however, is on the sufferers behavior.
He has a sense of timidity and may lose self control before visitors.
Unfortunately, Freeman’s call for prevention went unheeded.
Workers treating the fur with mercury nitrate in a felt hat-making factory.
Even then, Dr. Dennis found that one out of every four workers were showing signs of mercury poisonings.
Most astounding was the lack of awareness among both the workers and their employers.
The government and the public remained largely indifferent, and the employers interests lay only in profits.
The Second World War resolved the problem by making mercury too valuable to waste on felt hats.
