Hat Facts #7
Mad As A Hatter
Totally demented, crazy.
[Hatters did, indeed, go mad. They inhaled fumes from the mercury that was part
of the process of making felt hats. Not recognizing the violent twitching and
derangement as symptoms of a brain disorder, people made fun of affected
hat-makers, often treating them as drunkards. In the U.S., the condition was
called the "Danbury shakes." (Danbury, Connecticut, was a hat-making
center.) Mercury is no longer used in the felting process: hat-making -- and
hat-makers -- are safe.]
Hold On To Your Hat
A warning that some excitement or danger is imminent. [When riding horseback or
in an open-air early automobile, the exclamation "hold on to your
hat" when the horse broke into a gallop or the car took-off was certainly
literal.]
Wearing Many Hats
This of course is a metaphor
for having many different duties or jobs. [Historically, hats have often been
an integral, even necessary, part of a working uniform. A miner, welder,
construction worker, undertaker, white-collar worker or banker before the
1960s, chef, farmer, etc. all wear, or wore, a particular hat. Wearing
"many hats" or "many different hats" simply means that one
has different duties or jobs.]
At the Drop of a Hat
Fast. [Dropping a hat can be a
way in which a race can start (instead of a starting gun for example). Also, a
hat is an apparel item that can easily become dislodged from its wearer. Anyone
who wears hats regularly has experienced the quickness by which a hat can fly
off your head.]
Bee In Your Bonnet
An
indication of agitation or an idea that you can't let go of and just have to
express. [A real bee in one's bonnet certainly precipitates expression.]
Pass The Hat
Literally
to pass a man's hat among members of an audience or group as a means for collecting
money. Also to beg or ask for charity. [The origin is self-evident as a man's
hat turned upside down makes a fine container.]
Keeping Something Under One's Hat
Keeping a secret. [People kept
important papers and small treasures under their hats. One's hat was often the
first thing put on in the morning and the last thing taken off at night, so
literally keeping things under one's hat was safe keeping. A famous
practitioner of this was Abraham Lincoln. ]
