I'm me cos I live in a hat making town, stockport was one, hence the museum, and the footy team. london was another, and the midlands one was ather stone.
They made hats for all over the world. but the last factory here has now closed. aldi decided they wanted it to build a supermarket that looks like a cow shed so it got demolished.
all we have is one case of hats in the under threat local museum. The factories were huge and served by road rail and canal.
Mercury was used during the manufacture of felt hats, and the constant breathing in of these fumes made the hatters go mad, some say that this is where the saying mad as a hatter comes from. mad as in losing the plot slightly, not mad as in angry or mad as in hyperactive.
lewis carroll created a character of the mad hatter, although I don't think he ever actually got called the mad hatter by anyone. He did say a lot of silly things though and wasnt to be taken to serious.