The Mad Hatter and Jeremy Piven both may suffer from illness due to mercury poisoning.
Back, back in the day (the 19th century) "hatters" (those who make hats) used mercury as part of the hat making process. Inhalation of the mercury vapors eventually sickened the "hatters" causing them to display the symptoms of mercury poisoning, which include emotional changes, lack of coordination, twitching and tremors and impaired speech. Apparently, back in the day, a person who had these strange symptoms was believed to be "mad," thus creating the phrase "mad as a hatter." The name of the character, the Mad Hatter, of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is believed to be influenced by this phrase.
But did the Mad Hatter really suffer from mercury poisoning, or was he just plain mad? He did not display the medical symptoms of mercury poisoning, so I believe he was just plain crazy (maybe there was something in the tea...hugs not drugs kiddies). The same has been speculated of Mr. Piven (but how could you not love Ari Gold? Entourage come back!).
For more information on mercury poisoning, click here.
This post was inspired by my darling brother Max, who showed me this Alice in Wonderland video remix.
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