THE HISTORY OF THE PANAMA HAT
The Paja Toquilla, true origin of the Panama hat
In the 16th century, when the Spanish conquistadors reached the Ecuadorian coast, in the region of Manabi and Guayas, they noticed that the natives wore strange straw headdresses covering their ears and necks, made from a plant fiber called "Pajamocora." These large hats resembled the headdresses of nuns and widows in Europe, headdresses called "tocas." They naturally named the smaller native headdresses "toquillas." This is how this straw is now referred to: "paja toquilla."
Local know-how: the importance of the village
In the 17th century, Spanish settlers used local labor to make European-style hats, replacing traditional ones. Weavers lived primarily in the towns of Jipijapa and Montecristi, in the province of Manabi, which quickly became major production centers. A Montecristi hat is still considered the finest straw hat today.
In the 18th century, the popularity of this hat made from Toquilla palms reached the Kingdom of Spain and the Spanish nobility. The king ordered one for his wife. Botanists then decided to name this new species "Carludovica Palmata" in honor of King Charles IV of Spain and his wife, Queen Ludovica.
In the 19th century, entrepreneur Manuel Alfaro settled in Montecristi and established a hat-making workshop using his own palm plantations and local labor. He exported his production to Panama, which was a major economic hub at the time. The hats attracted the attention of foreigners there; the association with the country of sale and their entirely Ecuadorian origin was forever associated with Panama.
At the same time, the city of Cuenca, located on the plateaus of the province of Azuay, experienced the same industrial boom thanks to the manufacture of hats that differed from the Montecristi hats in that they had a thicker, bleached straw, which allowed for much faster weaving.
The famous name of the " Panama Hat "
In 1881, the United States began digging the Panama Canal, and thousands of workers from different countries were assigned to it. Medical teams quickly made it mandatory to wear hats to protect themselves from the sun; lightweight, comfortable, and practical, Toquillas were a unanimous success. Adopted by all, Ecuadorian "Toquillas" were sold at a high price: around $100 each. However, Panama gained its reputation thanks to President Roosevelt, who adopted it during a visit to the Canal construction site in 1906, thus popularizing the name "Panama hat."
