The Panama Hat

Like most of you probably know, the authentic Panama hat is really woven from the 'toquilla straw' in a remote town on Ecuador's coast called Montecristi. www.planetepanama.com

This village is now internationally known for the high quality "Panama Hats" the handful of master weavers, creators of the finest straw hats in the world produce. The finest panamas have a silk, creamy smooth texture in which the weave is barely perceptible, but if held up to the light, a spiral of rings will be seen spanning out from the middle of the crown. They are so fine they look like silk and cost thousands of dollars on the retail market.

These concentric rings or vueltas indicate where new strands have been started in the weaving process. It is the number of vueltas that determines the quality of the Panama. In the cheaper and most common quality that might take a day or two to weave, there may be up to ten "vueltas" whereas in the finer quality or "finos" there could be as many as forty. This quality work represents many months of work of one individual. And it's the only income the weavers' families have.

In 1835 Manuel Alfaro, a Spanish entrepreneur, arrived in the port of Guayaquil in the province of Guayas. He settled in nearby Montecristi and quickly realised the economic potential of the toquilla hat setting up his own chain of production from the straw plantations to circuits of weavers. His hats were soon being exported from the ports of Guayaquil and Manta to Panama which was quickly becoming an important center and staging post for international trade and travel.

As you might expect, Ecuadorians themselves do not call their hats Panama hats. In Ecuador, the hats are sombreros de paja toquilla, or "hats of toquilla straw."

At first they were sold locally within Ecuador, it was many years later before they actually started to export their hats. Buyers shipped them to Panama during the building of the Panama canal, where they were worn by the workers for protection from the sun.

The toquilla hat soon began its conquest of the United States. Prospectors heading for the Californian gold fields during the rush beginning in 1848 passed through Panama picking up hats on their way. It wasn't long before large quantities of hats were being exported to California.

At the same time the authorities at Cuenca, 2,550 meters high in the Andean province of Azuay, opened a hat factory and later a workshop for training in an attempt to alleviate economic problems. The authorities made apprenticeship compulsory throughout the region with the threat of prison for those who refused. The industry in Cuenca developed quickly and utilised modern methods and organisation which led to it slowly outstripping the more traditional producers in the Manabi region.

In the 18th Century Panama hats found their way into the United States. During the American-Spanish war (1898) the US government ordered from Ecuador 50,000 "sombrero de paja toquilla" (hats of the toquilla plant), for their troops heading for the Caribbean. Earlier in 1855, a Frenchman living in Ecuador took some to the World Exhibition in Paris. The finest hat was presented to the then Emperor of France Napoleon III and has been much sought after by Royalty ever since.

Its popularity was further enhanced when in 1906 President Theodor Roosevelt was photographed wearing a Panama hat whilst viewing the Panama Canal under construction.

In England much encouraged by royal patronage, the Panama quickly became known as the most fashionable summer hat and remains so to this day.

If you need to remove a wrinkle or bad shape, simply spray water lightly on the place to be reformed and then warm it a little with the hair dryer. You will notice that a heavy crease will start to relax with just this! Then allow the water to soak in for a minute or so and you will notice that the hat becomes a little like clay in your hands. Reform/reshape it how you like using a little water and the hair dryer.

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