THE TRUE HISTORY OF GENUINE PANAMA HATS

Was the customer duped? To an observer, it might have seemed so. Why, the fellow paid $300 usd for a genuine Panama hat. But the salesman took it out of a box that was clearly stamped "Made in Ecuador"! A fraud? Far from it. In fact, the true Panama hat is indeed made in Ecuador.

But how did such a misnomer come about? And why would such a panama hat or straw hat be worth hundreds of dollars?

Ever since the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, natives from the Ecuadorian province of Manabí have been weaving with Paja Toquilla Straw. In the towns of Jipijapa and Montecristi, they used to hand weave what we call "tocas" which is a type of straw cloth, wrapped around the head meant for sun protection, these tocas were woven from the fibbers of palm leaves. The scientific name of this plant is "Carludovica Palmata".

The very finest of these "tocas" were later called "toquillas", thus the name "Paja Toquilla" for straw hats and panama hats nowadays .

Many years later, the art of weaving straw hats spread to the town of Cuenca, expanding very quickly throughout the provinces Azuay, where the city of Cuenca is capital, and Cañar; now the centers of major straw hats production in Ecuador.

However, many years passed away before Ecuador began to export straw hats. At first, they were only sold within the country. Later, buyers shipped these straw hats to Panama to resell them. It was in Panama where our Ecuadorian Hats became known to the world as "Panama Hats"

In the mid-1800's, gold seekers rushed to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. There they purchased straw hats imported from Ecuador. In time, ecuadorian straw hats came to be known by the name of their point of purchase rather than their place of origin. In any event, the Panama hat became very popular. In 1849, for example, Ecuador exported more than 220,000 panama hats, in 1855 a Frenchman who lived in Panama introduced these straw hats to the world's fair in Paris.

The fashion-savvy French were impressed with the delicate material, some even describing it as "straw cloth." Soon it was virtually unthinkable to wear any other style than a panama hat or ecuadorian straw hat!

The popularity of the Panama hat soared at the start of the 20th century when a photograph of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt sporting a stylish fino panama hat appeared in the world press. The demand for the chic straw hat rose. Prominent companies around the globe began distributing them. In Turkey, modernization laws banned the traditional fez in 1925 and mandated the use of Panama hats. By 1944 the Panama hat or straw hat had become Ecuador's primary export item.
By the second half of the 20th century, the popularity of panama hats waned.

Yet, Ecuador's finely woven Panama hats maintained their mystique. Indeed, expert hatters throughout the world compete for premium-grade specimens of these straw hats. Famous people from bygone eras to our day have been captivated by the elegance of the Panama hat. It has graced the heads of Winston Churchill, Nikita Khrushchev, Humphrey Bogart, and Michael Jordan—to name but a few.

Of course, there are inexpensive mass-produced imitations of the genuine Panama, such as those manufactured in China, which are not the same quality of straw, or the same quality of weaving neither the same time used to weave them is the same, chinese hats are light and each weave is centimeter away from other, genuine panama hats have volumen, their weaves are one next to the other, the plant used to weave then is only found in Ecuador, the touch and smoothness of a genuine panama hat will never equals a cheap coarse inexpensive chinese imitation. Many of these chinese panama hat imitations crack; others do not breathe. In contrast, the genuine Panama is light and airy, and it lasts a lifetime. Each is handwoven and therefore is one of a kind. Prices range from a few dollars for the coarser straw hats to over $1,000 for the rarest panama hats, the superfinos straw hats of Montecristi. Quality is determined by the fineness and regularity of the weave as well as the consistency of color. But always remember this: A genuine Panama hat is made only in Ecuador.

How is the Panama hat made? A palmlike plant provides the supple yet resistant fiber called toquilla. Ecuador's coastal lowlands provide ideal conditions for the growth and regeneration of this plant. The Ecuadoran hat artisans are considered to be among the world's finest weavers of straw hats, and what painstaking work they perform! It can take them six months or more to weave the high-quality Montecristi superfino panama hat. The length of each fiber in the hat is quite short. Yet, in a genuine Panama Hat, you can hardly tell where one strand ends and the next one begins. Furthermore, the strands are so tightly woven that even water will not seep through!

The town of Montecristi is renowned for its excellent handwoven panama hats. The masters of the Montecristi area weave in the early morning or late afternoon so that the equatorial heat does not affect the pliancy of the fiber.

They begin the crown by meticulously weaving circle upon circle of intricately laced fiber until the desired diameter is achieved. Then the crown is placed on a cylindrical wood block so that the artisan's hands can deftly spiral downward as he weaves the sides. After many weeks his weaving proceeds at a right angle to form the brim of the panama hat. A thorough trimming, washing, and bleaching coupled with sundry finishing techniques produce the famed Panama hat.

There is much more about panama hats and straw hats you should know, but doing so will kill part of the mystery!

Andean Art

Panama Hat Export Department