3710. Mad Hatter

Hatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll. The phrase "mad as a hatter" pre-dates Carroll's works and the characters the Hatter and the March Hare are initially referred to as "both mad" by the Cheshire Cat, with both first appearing in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in the seventh chapter titled "A Mad Tea-Party". The Hatter explains to Alice that he and the March Hare are always having tea because, when he tried to sing for the Queen of Hearts at her celebration, she sentenced him to death for "murdering the time," but he escapes decapitation. In retaliation, Time (referred to as a "Him") halts himself in respect to the Hatter, keeping him and the March Hare stuck at 6:00 forever. As such, he exclaims "Tea Time!" at random occasions. The tea party, when Alice arrives, is characterised by switching places on the table at any given time, making short, personal remarks, asking unanswerable riddles and reciting nonsensical poetry, all of which eventually drive Alice away. He appears again as a witness at the Knave of Hearts' trial, where the Queen appears to recognise him as the singer she sentenced to death, and the King also cautions him not to be nervous "or I'll have you executed on the spot." When the character makes his appearance as "Hatta" in Through the Looking-Glass, he is in trouble with the law once again. This time, however, he is not necessarily guilty: the White Queen explains that quite often subjects are punished before they commit a crime, rather than after, and sometimes they do not even commit it at all. He is also mentioned as being one of the White King's messengers, and the March Hare appears as well as "Haigha", since the King explains that he needs two messengers: "one to come, and one to go." Sir John Tenniel's illustration also depicts him as sipping from a teacup as he did in the original novel, adding weight to Carroll's hint that the two characters are very much the same. Madame Alexander is a brand of American collectible dolls introduced in 1923. Madame Alexander is also the business name of Beatrice Alexander, who was born Bertha Alexander, later changed her name to Beatrice, married Philip Behrman and then started her doll business. She was an American entrepreneur who created the first "collectible" dolls based on a licensed character – Scarlett O'Hara from the book and movie Gone with the Wind. She was also one of the early creators of mass-produced dolls in honor of living people, with dolls of the famous Dionne quintuplets in 1936 and a set of 36 Queen Elizabeth II dolls to commemorate the 1953 coronation celebrations in Britain. In 2002 two Judy Garland portrait dolls were introduced. Other popular dolls have been 'Pussycat' a large baby doll dressed in fine coat and dress and a Mary, Queen of Scots Portrait Doll as well as Heidi, the characters from Little Women, and a series international dolls in native costumes. She has created many topical doll series. "The First Ladies of the United States" depicting each in her inaugural gown as well as "The Opera Series", "Fairy Tale Series" and many more. Her 8" Wendy doll, introduced in 1953 which is still being made today, is considered collectible. A December 2005 article in Forbes magazine analyzed the most popular American toys by decade, with help from the Toy Industry Association. The Madame Alexander collectible dolls led the list for the 1920–1929 decade, beating out even the yo-yo. Alexandra Fairchild Ford is a line of 16" collectible fashion doll for adult collectors. As of 2009, Madame Alexander began creating dolls for Dollie & Me, which specializes in matching clothing for girls and dolls. The Madame Alexander Doll Club is separate from The Alexander Doll Company, but the company supports club efforts by creating new limited edition dolls for club events. The club holds events and conventions all over the US. The club also publishes a quarterly magazine for members called The Review.