Panama Hats

I thought Panama hats were from Panama but I found I was wrong once I came to Cuenca.  It all happened in the mid 1800s when the straw hats made in Ecuador were traded in Panama.  The hats soon were associated with the country from which they were exported rather than where they were actually from.  Panama hats are made from the fronds of the toquilla palm grown in Ecuador and most of the straw is purchased from buyers in and near Cuenca where they are woven into hats.  Its an extremely arduous process to make them and the time it takes depends on the finished product.  Panama hats are graded by the density of their weaves: standard, superior, fino and superfino.  Superfino hats are woven so tightly with such fine straw that you wouldn't see light through one if you held it up to the light.  They are pliable enough to roll up and the good ones are said to hold water.  When they were first made in the 1800s, everyone wore them to protect them from the sun.  However today they are not worn by all classes of people as they are too expensive.  The pictures above are from the Homero Ortega Hat Factory which is supposedly THE Panama Hat factory.  The first two and last pictures show that many people do love Panama hats.