{"id":86,"date":"2016-07-07T20:31:26","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T20:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/?page_id=86"},"modified":"2016-07-13T19:27:29","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T19:27:29","slug":"tour-how-a-panama-hat-is-made","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/hat-lore-overview\/tour-how-a-panama-hat-is-made\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo Tour: How a Panama Hat is Made"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ecuador_Cities_Map\"Authentic, classic Panama hats are not made in Panama. They\u00a0are, and always have been, made in Ecuador.So why are they called Panama hats if they really come from Ecuador? Good\u00a0question. The way-too-short answer is that the hats were purchased in Panama\u00a0and the buyers didn\u2019t know where they were made. (Hey, where\u2019d ya\u00a0get the hat? \u201cPanama.\u201d) For a more complete, and more interesting\u00a0answer see: Why a\u00a0Hat from Ecuador Is Called a Panama<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CUENCA1W\"<\/p>\n

\"HOBRANDW\"The main center for the Panama hat trade in Ecuador, and\u00a0indeed the world, is the lovely colonial city of Cuenca (pronounced Kwain-ka)\u00a0in the Andes Mountains. The largest manufacturers and exporters\u00a0of hats have\u00a0their offices and factories here.<\/p>\n

The weavers and dealers in and around Cuenca produce thousands of hats each\u00a0day. The great majority of hats you see labeled \u201cGenuine Panama\u00a0Hat\u201d are from Cuenca.<\/p>\n

In Cuenca, it\u2019s about serious quantity more than serious quality. But\u00a0they are genuine hand-woven Panama hats, and they are great hats. Better hats\u00a0than those from asia. Not cheaper, better.<\/p>\n

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\"mcchurchw\"\"DGSTEPSW\"<\/p>\n

By contrast, there are only a few small hat dealers in\u00a0Montecristi. They are family businesses. They do not have factories full of\u00a0employees. They usually work in their homes. They do not sell hats by the\u00a0thousands. You would be fortunate to find more than several dozen hats at one\u00a0time in one place in Montecristi. (Unless you were with me and they knew we\u00a0were coming.) The finer the grade, the fewer the hats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SAEW23W_3473\"\"SAEW5W\"<\/p>\n

I buy the entire production of the best weaver alive. He weaves 5 hats each\u00a0year. They feel like linen and weigh less than your shadow. They cost as much\u00a0as a small car. Want one?<\/p>\n

The line starts here: BBB@BrentBlack.com<\/a><\/p>\n

In Montecristi, the hats are\u2026well, here\u2019s how Tom Miller put\u00a0it:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cJust as the magic name \u2018Havana\u2019 signifies\u00a0the best in cigars, \u2018Montecristi\u2019 translates to the highest\u00a0standard in the Panama hat trade. Hats there take longer to weave, cost more to\u00a0buy, are harder to find.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Tom Miller\u2014Travel & Leisure<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"SAEBBB1W_Upsample_275pxW\"<\/p>\n

For almost 20 years I have followed an irresistable passion to\u00a0see and touch and learn everything possible about these incredible hats. I have\u00a0hoped to resuscitate an endangered art by bringing the art, and the artists, to\u00a0market. For the art to survive, it must survive in the marketplace. Not just\u00a0the retail marketplace. But also the labor marketplace. If weavers can earn\u00a0more money by doing a less demanding factory job, or by moving away, then there\u00a0will be no more weavers. I pay the weavers more so there will be more\u00a0weavers.<\/p>\n

Come along and I\u2019ll show you what\u2019s so special\u00a0about these hats.<\/p>\n

First, we\u2019ll hike into an Ecuadorian rain forest with the\u00a0world\u2019s best weaver to cut the cogollos to make the straw he will use to\u00a0weave a hat.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m the mud-covered, mosquito-bitten photographer in the\u00a0background in the photo to the right.<\/p>\n

Photo \u00a9 Roff Smith. All other photos\u00a0and text B. Brent Black \u00a9 2005-2007.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authentic, classic Panama hats are not made in Panama. They\u00a0are, and always have been, made in Ecuador.So why are they called Panama hats if they really come from Ecuador? Good\u00a0question. The way-too-short answer is that the hats were purchased in Panama\u00a0and the buyers didn\u2019t know where they were made. (Hey, where\u2019d ya\u00a0get the hat? \u201cPanama.\u201d) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":1034,"parent":84,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"tour-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-86","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3543,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86\/revisions\/3543"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}