(funky music) - From The Horse's Mouth.
- [Narrator] Mad as a hatter.
Has anyone said you are mad as a hatter?
If they have, they just called you completely crazy.
Believe it or not, this phrase did not originate with the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland," but in the history of hat making.
Mercury was once used to turn small-animal fur into felts for hats.
Prolonged exposure, caused employees to develop a variety of physical and mental ailments, including speech problems, emotional instability, and hallucinations.
And that's where the phrase mad as a hatter comes from.