Panama Hats – Made in Ecuador

When you think of the Panama Hat, do you think of Ecuador? Probably not. Did you know that the white straw hats we typically call “Panama Hat” was made in Ecuador probably by the Incas as early as the 16th Century?

So how did these hats made in Ecuador end up with the name, “Panama Hat” and become so popular? Well, let’s take a look.

Before air travel, anyone on the East Coast of Canada or the U.S. who wanted to go to the West Coast (or vice versa) had three choices: (1) travel overland, (2) take a ship around the tip of South America, (3) take a ship to Panama, cut across the isthmus, and get another ship on the other side. Option number three was the fastest, and probably the least hazardous, of the choices.

Now, you have Ecuador occupying a relatively small space of the west coast of South America. In the 1800’s Ecuador was not a thriving place for commerce or people passing through to some other place. So, being the clever businessperson that you are, you take your hats to Panama to sell them. People like your hats. There is a reasonable amount of traffic. Business is good. Then gold is discovered in California and the number of people passing through Panama explodes exponentially.

You say the 1849 equivalent of “Woo-hoo!” Business is very good.

Your strong, lightweight, attractive, straw hats are much in demand. They are perfect for deflecting the tropical sun of Panama, just the thing for those long days many are about to spend outdoors in sunny California getting rich panning for gold, and they’re even nice to have on a summer day in Philadelphia or Boston.

People on their way to the gold fields buy your hats. People returning home from the gold fields buy your hats. And when your customers arrive at their destinations, an oft-heard comment is “Nice hat. Where’d you get it?” The response is, of course, “Panama.” You neglected to put Made in Ecuador stickers inside all the hats, so the inevitable result is that the hats are called “Panama” hats.

So, Ecuador’s most famous export is called a “Panama” hat. People in Ecuador hate that.

A second major contributor to the misnomer was the Panama Canal. Canal workers often wore the hats, which showed up pretty well in black-and-white news photos of the day. One photo, made on November 16, 1906, is often credited as the origin of both the name and the fashion.

This photograph shows President Theodore Roosevelt wearing a black-banded straw hat as he sits at the controls of a ninety-five-ton Bucyrus steam shovel during a three-day inspection tour of the Panama Canal excavation. The picture was widely published in the U.S., and around the world, prompting much comment on the President’s “Panama” hat.

The hats are woven from plant fibers. The plants these hats are made from grow close to streams and rivers and have to be harvested, stripped, boiled, bleached and dyed. The fiber is then braided and the braids wound, sewn and shaped on a hat mold. The color of the fiber and the pattern and weave of the braid is unique to each weaver. The art of making these hats has been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years.

The coarser or more rustic hats are made with thicker braids and are the most hardy and least expensive. These “work hats” are often worn by farmers and laborers and stand up to extreme weather conditions. These hats will generally have only a few braids while the “finer” straw hats will have many, thereby creating a much smoother and dressier look.

The finer the braid and the more braids used in the hat, the more elegant the look and consequently, more expensive. Panama Hats can range from $30 – $40 to several hundred dollars.