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We began by searching Yahoo! for "Alice in Wonderland." We were rewarded with 2 categories and 20 sites about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the complete title of the Lewis Carroll book). We suspected the site from Carnegie Mellon University might offer some scholarly insight, so off we headed. Once there, we found an image of The Mad Hatter's Tea Party by an illustrator named Tenniel. In the picture, the piece of paper attached to the Mad Hatter's top hat reads "In this style 10/6." Looked like a price tag to us, but we wanted to be sure, so we continued on. We returned to
Yahoo! and typed in "Tenniel," which led us to the Sir John Tenniel category in the Yahoo! directory. We clicked around and found a biography of the illustrator. Sir John Tenniel was a prolific and noted illustrator who produced over 2,000 cartoons, including many caricatures and political cartoons for the satirical magazine Punch. But we still hadn't found a reference to the mysterious "10/6." Back at Yahoo! we typed in "the Mad Hatter," and browsed through a list of site matches, but nothing looked promising, so we went on to the web page matches. A site about Mad
Hatter Day piqued our curiosity so we headed there. We learned that Mad Hatter Day is the "second silly day" of the year (the first being April Fool's Day) and is celebrated on 10/6 (October 6 in the United States; June 10 in Britain). Was the "10/6" a reference to a date? Looking for confirmation, we clicked on a link to another Mad Hatter Day page. At last we found our answer. The site explains that while Mad Hatter Day is celebrated on 10/6 in honor of the number on the top hat, "some astute observers have noted that the paper in the Mad Hatter's Hat was really an order to make a hat in the style shown, to cost ten shillings sixpence." There you have it -- the "10/6" appears to be the price of the hat. So, next
time you pass someone on the street wearing a hat with the price tag still attached, you can thank (or blame) John Tenniel for starting this revolutionary fashion trend.
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