Here are the Top 5 original Mad Hatter Quotes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland:
1. “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
1. “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”2. “Does your watch tell you what year it is?”
3. “Your hair wants cutting.”
4. “You mean you can’t take less; it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”
5. “I can’t go no lower, I’m on the floor as it is.”
If you liked those you’ll love our 101 Famous Quotes From Alice In Wonderland – Complete Interactive eBook Experience!
Mad Hatter and His Tea Party
The character of the Mad Hatter was invented by Lewis Carroll in 1864 for his classic book of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. The Hatter is a hat maker who is quite mad because he is being slowly poisoned by mercury fumes given off during the hat making process.
His friends, the March Hare and the Dormouse continue having tea with the Mad Hatter constantly, because they are stuck in Time precisely at 6.00 PM. Every now and then they swap places at the long table to get new cups and saucers since they don’t have time to wash up.
Another curious thing about this everlasting tea party is that they put butter in their tea. The Hatter even dips his pocket watch into the tea cup!
Sir John Tenniel, a famous artist of the time, drew the pictures for Lewis Carroll’s books, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There’. Above and below are character drawings of the Mad Hatter at the tea party.
Mad Hatter Costume
Mad Hatter is a quirky character who dresses in a suit, a bow tie and a large top hat with a card saying
“In this style 10/6”
on it. This marking means the price of the hat, 10 shillings and 6 pence in old British money.
There have been many versions of him in countless productions, plays and musicals over the years. But still he is one of the favorite characters of Wonderland!
Mind you that the Mad Hatter costume is perfect for a masquerade party or Halloween! It can be worn by young and old, even girls find a way to make Mad Hatter costumes a perfect fit.
If you’re looking for Mad Hatter’s costumes, you can find some great ones in right here on our shop-page.
Mad Hatter’s Riddle
Alice visits the Mad Hatter tea party and gets into great arguments with the Hatter. This is the setting for many of the quotes on this page. Mad Hatter’s riddle is one of the quirkiest quotations in Carroll’s books:
“Why Is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?”
Even Lewis Carroll himself did not have an answer to it! Though later, after countless requests from readers, he tried to come up with an answer to it. In the preface to the 1896 edition of the book, Carroll wrote:
Enquiries have been so often addressed to me, as to whether any answer to the Hatter’s Riddle can be imagined, that I may as well put on record here what seems to me to be a fairly appropriate answer: “Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!”
This, however, is merely an afterthought; the riddle as originally invented, had no answer at all.
The Hollywood actor, Johnny Depp has made this Raven-quotation ever more famous as the Mad Hatter in the Disney’s Alice in Wonderland movie 2010.
He asked the riddle as many as three times in the movie.
SEE ALSO > 101 Famous Quotes From Alice In wonderland Interactive eBook