Sujet
Making beaver hats, 1841. Artist: Anon
Légende
Making beaver hats, 1841. Although called beaver hats, a certain amount beaver fur was only used in the most expensive examples. In most others, rabbit fur was used. The body of the hats was felted in a kettle. The felted material was then placed on a wooden block and formed into a hat and the nap of the material was then raised by brushing. Mercury was used in the kettle and the hatters inhaled vapourised mercury in the steam. As a result many of them suffered from the uncontrollable shaking typical of mercury poisoning which attacked the central nervous system. The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland exhibited these symptoms. From The Penny Magazine, London, 1841.
Oxford Science Archive
Date
1841
Crédit
Photo12/Heritage Images
Notre référence
HRM19B66_273
Model release
Non
Licence
Droits gérés
Format disponible
49,9Mo (4,5Mo) / 39,1cm x 32,0cm / 4615 x 3783 (300dpi)