Mad As a Hatter

[Subdeacon Joe]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1464780633773932/permalink/4071377299780906/

 

As fashionable as the hats were, they were killing their craftspeople. “Mad Hatter’s Disease” is a well-known consequence of 19th century hat making. The skilled hat artisans crafting these felt masterpieces became slowly poisoned by their own creations. The felt was processed with mercury nitrate, a process called secretage or carroting. Mercury nitrate stiffened the animal fur, letting it mat together in a stronger bond. Mercury wasn’t causing too much harm until they steamed the fabric. Hatmakers inhaled the vapor.

Over time, mercury built up in their system, and they became the “Mad Hatters” of lore. Mercury nitrate is a neurotoxin that causes headaches, personality changes, tremors, gastrointestinal problems, delirium, and “hatters shakes,” tremors and anxiety that come along with mercury toxicity. Danbury, Connecticut had a thriving hat-making community, resulting in an alarmingly high number of tremors and mercury poisoning symptoms, so many they became dubbed the “Danbury Shakes.”

Source. History Collection & Parenthetically

 

 

 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

I learn something new every day! 

[Blackwater 53393]

‘Zat what y’all think is wrong with me?? 🤪🤣

[Rip Snorter]

Look up The Radium Girls - similar kind of thing.

[Texas Lizard]

24 minutes ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

‘Zat what y’all think is wrong with me?? 🤪🤣

Everything.....

 

Texas Lizard

[Alpo]

11 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Look up The Radium Girls - similar kind of thing.

What you supposed caused more problems?

 

Licking/sucking on the brush, so they can get it to come to a point so they could be more precise with painting their numbers? Or

 

Painting their teeth before they would go out on a date, so their smile would glow in the dark?

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

2 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

‘Zat what y’all think is wrong with me?? 🤪🤣

Not me.  I'm pretty sure yours is genetic...like mine.

 

Of course, theres really wrong withmewithmewithmewithme.

[Blackwater 53393]

Actually, I’m certain that I am perfectly fine and normal!! It’s the rest of ya’s that I’m concerned about!!

[Eyesa Horg]

From Google AI:

 

The Radium Girls were a group of female factory workers in the early 20th century who suffered fatal radiation poisoning from radium-infused paint used to illuminate watch dials and clock faces. These workers were instructed to lick their paintbrushes to create fine points, a practice that led to the ingestion of large amounts of radioactive material. The women developed severe and painful illnesses, including bone cancer and "radium jaw". Their subsequent lawsuits against the U.S. Radium Corporation became a landmark case for occupational safety and helped spur new labor laws and industrial safety standards in the United States.  

The "Magic" of Radium and the Work

Radium Paint: In the early 20th century, radium was a popular, "miracle" element used in products like luminous watch dials. 

Dial Painters: Companies hired women for their steady hands to paint the intricate details on watch faces. 

Lip-pointing: To get the precise tips needed for painting, workers were told to dip their brushes in the paint and then lick the tips with their lips to form a sharp point. This technique led to the ingestion of radium-laden paint hundreds of times a day. 

The Consequences

Illness and Death: The ingested radium caused horrific health problems, including severe anemia, bone necrosis ("radium jaw"), fractures, and eventually death. 

Corporate Deception: The companies actively worked to conceal the dangers of radium, discrediting the sick workers and falsifying records. 

The Fight for Justice

Grace Fryer: In 1925, Grace Fryer, one of the New Jersey dial painters, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Radium Corporation. 

Landmark Case: Her lawsuit, and those of her fellow workers, became front-page news and a pivotal moment in labor law history. 

Impact: The cases resulted in compensation for the surviving workers, improved workplace safety guidelines, and the discontinuation of radium paint in consumer products by 1968. 

Dive deeper in AI Mode

AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more

 

 

 

 

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org

Radium Girls

The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting radium dials – watch dials and hands with self-luminous paint.