Where is the national headdress Panama? In which country were Panama hats invented?
The history of panama hats can be traced back to the 16th century. The Incas are considered the first, these hats. When Francisco Pizarro and his Spanish conquistadors arrived in what is now Ecuador in 1526, many coastal indigenous people wore hats woven from straw.
Traditional woven Ecuadorian straw hats were declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO on December 6, 2012.
How did Panama get its name?
Much later, in 1835, the enterprising businessman Manuel Alfaro settled in the small town of Montecristi in the province of Manabí. His goal was to organize the export of the highest quality straw hats produced there. However, to meet the growing demand for these products, it was necessary to increase production, so in 1836 a hat factory was opened in the city of Cuenca, located in the province of Azuay.Manuel Alfaro created an effective commercial system, thanks to which straw hats became extremely popular. In the 1800s, Ecuador was not a busy trading place, but the thin isthmus linking North and South America, Panama, was relatively close by, where desirable buyers could be found.
At that time, people from the west or east of North America could reach the opposite side of the continent in several ways. It was possible to cover enormous distances by land; board a ship and circumnavigate South America; swim to Panama, cross a narrow strip of land and re-board the ship on the other side. Since the latter method was the fastest and safest, many people migrated through Panama, buying beautiful hats along the way.
Panama was also a place of international trade, from where South American goods were exported to countries in Asia, Europe, and North America. Hats were no exception. Alfaro's idea was an instant success, and the straw headdress soon became very fashionable. However, it was assigned the name of the place of purchase, and not the place of manufacture. This is how the world received Panama.
The further popularity of the hat is associated with the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1904, US President Theodore Roosevelt visited the construction site, where he was photographed wearing a Panama hat. Photography became widespread not only in the United States, but throughout the world.
Among the celebrities who liked to wear Panama were former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American actor Humphrey Bogart, sweet-voiced Frank Sinatra and Venezuelan President Romulo Betancourt.
Panama production today
Although Panama hat has lost its former popularity over time, it is still in great demand. Today, Panama hats are produced in many Latin American countries. The leading exporter is Ecuador, whose hats are of the highest quality.The most valuable hats are those with 1,600 to 2,000 fiber weaves per square inch. They are sold at very high prices. Less than 300 weaves means the quality is low. The work of making straw hats provides income for thousands of Ecuadorians, but only a few craftsmen are able to make Panama hats of the highest quality.
Panama- headdress.Most often, a Panama hat is a light hat with elastic brims made of a special type of straw - toquilla. However, this word is also used to refer to other headdresses:
- Headdress made of dense fabric with narrow brim. In English, this headdress is called a Bucket Hat.
- A cloth headdress for military uniforms in some armies of the world.
Panama is the national headdress of Ecuador. “Panama hats” are made not only in Ecuador, but also in a number of other Latin American countries, but Ecuador remains the main manufacturer. The recognized center of panama weaving is Cuenca, the third largest Ecuadorian city.
The headdress received its name due to the fact that it gained popularity in Europe and the USA during the construction of the Panama Canal.
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Excerpt characterizing Panama (hat)
Natasha blushed and laughed.- Well, what about you, mom? Well, what kind of hunt are you looking for? What's surprising here?
In the middle of the third eco-session, the chairs in the living room, where the count and Marya Dmitrievna were playing, began to move, and most of the honored guests and old people, stretching after a long sitting and putting wallets and purses in their pockets, walked out the doors of the hall. Marya Dmitrievna walked ahead with the count - both with cheerful faces. The Count, with playful politeness, like a ballet, offered his rounded hand to Marya Dmitrievna. He straightened up, and his face lit up with a particularly brave, sly smile, and as soon as the last figure of the ecosaise was danced, he clapped his hands to the musicians and shouted to the choir, addressing the first violin:
- Semyon! Do you know Danila Kupor?
This was the count's favorite dance, danced by him in his youth. (Danilo Kupor was actually one figure of the Angles.)
“Look at dad,” Natasha shouted to the whole hall (completely forgetting that she was dancing with a big one), bending her curly head to her knees and bursting into her ringing laughter throughout the hall.
Indeed, everyone in the hall looked with a smile of joy at the cheerful old man, who, next to his dignified lady, Marya Dmitrievna, who was taller than him, rounded his arms, shaking them in time, straightened his shoulders, twisted his legs, slightly stamping his feet, and with a more and more blooming smile on his round face, he prepared the audience for what was to come. As soon as the cheerful, defiant sounds of Danila Kupor, similar to a cheerful chatterbox, were heard, all the doors of the hall were suddenly filled with men's faces on one side and women's smiling faces of servants on the other, who came out to look at the merry master.
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- In which country did the world's first postage stamp appear?
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We are all well aware of the headdress created to protect from the bright sun, but not many know in which country Panama hats were invented, mistakenly believing that it was done in the Republic of Panama.
Panama, history of the country
The history of Panama, within the borders that we know now, goes back only 500 years since the discovery of the coast by Christopher Columbus. In such a short period of time, by the standards of history, she experienced many events.
The country's history began with the colonial period under Spanish rule, which lasted until independence in 1821. But then it turned out to be more expedient for such a small state to join Colombia, which was done. It was only in 1903 that Panama became truly independent. And in 1904, an agreement was concluded with the United States on the lease of the Panama Canal zone. And, by the way, it was this event that determined the name of the headdress that we mentioned at the beginning.
Where did Panama come from?
In fact, its homeland is Ecuador. Here this light headdress made of straw and reeds has been known since about the fifteenth century. It was most popular among farmers who had no other way to somehow protect themselves from the scorching sun. The real name of the Panama hat is “Sombrero de Paja Toquilla”.
And they began to call it a Panama after the Americans who were building the Panama Canal purchased a large batch of sombreros for workers who were suffering from the incredible heat.
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In this article we will talk about one very famous and popular summer headdress. Who doesn’t know what kind of hat is a Panama? Of course, everyone knows her. In its original form, the Panama hat is woven from elegant straw and bordered along the lower edge with elastic straw brims.
It would seem, what is so unusual about it that made it the subject of study of this article?
Lexical paradox
This question is simple. Try asking your friends: “In which country is the national headdress called Panama?” What do you think the majority of respondents will answer? They will say without hesitation: “In Panama!”
And, of course, if they bet on the similarity of the name of the hat and the Central American country, they will be mistaken. After all, human inconsistency in coming up with names is well known. In particular, this hat, created in one country, is named after another.
Ecuador is the real birthplace of Panama
To be precise, the birthplace of the “Ecuadorian hat” is the city of Cuenca, the cultural capital of Ecuador. Representatives of creative professions prefer to settle here. And it is in the area around this city that the endemic Ecuadorian palm tree - carludovica palmata - grows en masse - a source of raw materials for making Panama hats. The grateful residents of this country call it a “national treasure.”
In the 17th century, the inhabitants of Cuenca first decided to use the dried leaves of the mentioned palm tree (toquilla), cut into strips, to weave light, durable and “breathable” headdresses. Local entrepreneurs, realizing the benefits, organized mass production of these wonderful hats in the 19th century.
By the beginning of the 18th century, almost every resident of Ecuador wore a new and very comfortable national headdress - Panama.
In what country does this not happen? The popular folk craft grew into a thriving segment of light industry, and its products, filling the domestic market, began to be exported.
According to established tradition, “Ecuadorian hats” are still woven exclusively by women. This is very painstaking work. It sometimes takes a craftswoman several months to make a particularly elegant, expensive Panama hat.
Paradoxes of fashion
During the emergence of a widespread fashion for Panama hats in the world (and this was in the first decades of the 20th century), the famous canal was being built between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, passing through the territory of Panama - a small state located on the isthmus between the continents of South America and North America.
By this time, Ecuador had already established the production of many thousands of Panama hats and was looking for new markets for their sales. This profitable business reached a new level at the beginning of the last century. At that time, Panama was on the news of the whole world (in connection with construction). And Ecuadorian hats poured in there, so that bales of sombrero de Panamá (as it was called at that time) were then delivered to different countries on merchant ships.
In addition, this product was a bestseller: the people who built the Panama Canal, 81.6 km long and 150 m wide, however, like the people who celebrated its opening, mostly wore Panama hats on their heads. Who knows, maybe this also contributed to the transfer of the name of the majestic structure to the headdress that had become extremely popular.
Fashion is an amazing thing. After all, if you follow the logic of things, then (excuse the tautology) Panama is not the national headdress in Panama. (In which country it is a national treasure, we have already mentioned.) But in order not to be unfounded, we will try to prove that it is certainly not in Panama.
Panama is not the birthplace of Panama
It is very easy to prove that the population of this small state, even theoretically, could not have created this remarkable national headdress - Panama.
In which country was Panama previously only one of the provinces? Answer: Colombia. The reason for the spontaneous separation of part of the country into a sovereign state was purely external. The US capitalists financing the canal construction project calculated that it would cost them less under these conditions. Appropriate political pressure was applied to Colombia, and... Panama appeared.
Therefore, in the correct answer to the question “Which country’s national headdress is Panama?” The name of the country - Panama - should not be present.
Let us summarize the proof of the obvious: at the beginning of the 20th century, the word “national” was not even logically applicable to Panama, a state created bureaucratically and coercively, having a subsidiary pan-Colombian origin and history
About the production of Panama hats
Several million of them were created annually in the last century. Gradually, the national headdress - Panama - began to be characterized by more diffuse generic characteristics. In which country was it produced?
Soon, taking the Ecuadorian style of headdress as a basis, the elastic straw began to be replaced with dense fabric. Over the decades of production of Panama hats, fashion designers have shown their imagination. Thanks to them, Panama hats were no longer called a specific type, but an impressive assortment of summer hats. Whether they are made for resort holidays from thick fabric with narrow brims, or for military service - with wider brims.
However, among this variety, real connoisseurs will prefer authentic Panama hats woven from palm leaves, which are produced exclusively in Ecuador. Unfortunately, this traditional and original craft is now continued by only a few enterprises. One of them is the Homero Ortega factory (Cuenca).
Conclusion
It is noteworthy that the name of the Panama hat is a homonym for the name of the Central American country. However, this does not at all determine the origin of this headdress. Obviously, the decisive argument about its belonging to the traditions of a particular people is the answer to the question “Which country has a Panama hat in its national costume?” And this country is Ecuador.