The Panama hats are one of the hats that you must have in your collection. Other than the stylish designs, the hat offers utmost comfort from the scorching heat of the sun. The straw is harvested in the Western and Eastern slopes of Andes. It should grow for around 2 years and a half before they are carefully picked into bundles. Fiber is then acquired by removing the veins. The fiber is then treated to obtain uniform sizes and colors. Now it is all set to the weaver’s hands. The vueltas or concentric rings signify where new strands have been started in the weaving process. It is the numbers of vueltas that help determine the quality of these Panama hats. The most common hat quality which is cheaper too takes a day or two to weave, there perhaps be around 10 vueltas, whereas the finer quality hats there could be as many as 40. This quality work represents several months of hard work of an individual. And it is the only source of earning the weavers’ families have.
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As you may anticipate, the Ecuadorians themselves do not call their designed hats as Panama hats. In Ecuador, the hats are “hats of toquilla straw” or sombreros de paja toquilla.
Basically, they were sold locally sold within Ecuador; it was many years later before they considered exporting the hats worldwide. The hats were shipped to Panama during the building of the Panama Canal, where they were worn by the workers for protection from the scorching heat of the sun.
The toquilla hats also began its conquest of the USA. Prospectors headed for the Californian gold fields during the rush start in year 1848 passed through Panama and picked up these hats on their way. It was not long before bulks of these hats were being exported to California.
Consequently, the authorities at Cuenca, a 2,550 meters high in the Andean province of Azuay, started off with a hat factory and later a workshop for training purposes in an attempt to alleviate economic issues. The establishment made apprenticeship obligatory right through the region with the threat of prison for all those who refused. The Cuenca industry developed rapidly and utilized modern techniques and organization which lest to it gradually outstripping the more conventional producers in the Manabi region.
Find quality Panama hats are quite expensive, with prices for the top-notch quality usually exceedingly $10,000. An original Panama hats starts with hand-split Toquilla straw, and the fine quality hats have the straws sliced as fine as a sewing thread. All of the original Panama hats are beached using sulphur fumes, making them of light ivory color.
Reference Text:
https://www.ecuadorianhands.com/en/blog/4_true-history-of-montecristi-hat-panama-hat.html
https://www.ecuadorianhands.com/en/blog/12_preparation-processes-of-montecristi-hat-panama-hat.html