Okay, so last week I got totally hooked on this weird detail from Alice in Wonderland. You know those clocks stuck at "six o'clock"? The ones around the Mad Hatter? I kept wondering, why six? Seriously, what's the big deal? Felt like there had to be something more than just nonsense.
How I Started Digging
First, I grabbed my old copy of the book – dusty thing’s been on my shelf forever. I flipped straight to the tea party chapter where the Hatter goes on about killing Time. Lewis Carroll writes that Time got mad at the Hatter and froze all the clocks at six o’clock. Made zero sense to me initially. Like, why would an author pick that specific hour?
Then I started scribbling notes everywhere. Seriously, my desk looked like a tornado hit it. I wrote down:
- Six o’clock = tea time for rich folks back then
- Hatters actually used mercury for hats (crazy toxic stuff)
- Old saying: "Mad as a hatter" came from mercury poisoning
That last bit made my brain buzz. Was Carroll linking the time to the Hatter’s madness? Had to dig deeper.
The Weird Connections I Found
Googled like a maniac (avoiding shady websites, promise!). Found articles saying hatters showed symptoms at exactly 6:00 – shakes, twitches, the works. Why six? Apparently some chemical reaction peaked then? No solid proof though.
My buddy Greg chimed in. Total history nerd. He mentioned how tea parties started shifting to 5:30 PM in England around Carroll’s time. Maybe six o’clock became outdated? Like time itself betrayed the Hatter? Mind slightly blown.
Next day I sketched clocks. Stuck the hands at six over and over. Felt creepy drawing frozen clocks. Noticed how "VI" looks like a rigid cross too. Wonder if Carroll felt it looked final? Like death? Or just teatime?
Putting the Mad Pieces Together
Sat in my garden Tuesday evening with tea (not poisoned) and stared at my watch. Realized the whole point might be time punishing the Hatter. He tried to "murder" it with that song, right? So Time froze him right at the hour mocking his craft – toxic chemicals peak AND old traditions die.
Carroll probably mashed all this together: chemical poisoning symptoms + changing customs + a dude literally fighting time. That’s the secret sauce! The Hatter wasn’t just randomly bonkers – time broke him on purpose.
What’s Next
Gotta try baking clock-themed cookies next weekend – icing hands glued at six o’clock! Honestly, this rabbit hole feels deeper than I thought. Why’s no one talking about Time as a petty character? Might doodle a comic strip about that later. Wild stuff!
