Mad Hatter Day

What the day is

Mad Hatter Day is observed on October 6. The date comes from the card tucked into the Hatter's hatband in John Tenniel's illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which reads 10/6. In the original that is a price, ten shillings and sixpence, marking the hat as stock for sale. Read as an American date, it becomes October 6.

The day was started by computer people in Colorado in the 1980s as an excuse for organized silliness, and spread through early online communities.

Origin and background

The Hatter is never called the Mad Hatter in Carroll's text. He is the Hatter, and it is the Cheshire Cat who remarks that he is mad, along with everyone else in Wonderland.

The phrase mad as a hatter predates the book and has a grim origin. Felt hat making used mercury compounds to mat animal fur, and hatters working in poorly ventilated workshops absorbed mercury vapor over years. Chronic poisoning produced tremors, slurred speech, irritability, memory trouble and personality change, a recognized occupational condition. Carroll did not invent the association; he inherited it.

The tea party itself is a set piece about nonsense rather than madness: the riddle with no answer, the perpetual six o'clock, the endless rotation around the table. It is one of the most quoted scenes in English literature and one of the least plot-relevant.

How to take part

• Wear a hat, ideally an unsuitable one, and leave the price tag in it.
• Do something harmlessly nonsensical and stop before it becomes a nuisance to anyone else.
• Have tea at the wrong time of day, with too many cups and not enough chairs.
• Read the tea party chapter aloud. It is short and much funnier spoken than silent.
• Look at Tenniel's original illustrations rather than later adaptations. The 10/6 card is right there.
• Ask someone why a raven is like a writing desk, and accept that Carroll admitted there was no answer.