Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1900-10-05
OUR PANAMA HATS
MADE IN ECUADOR
Interesting Description of
HaWaii's Popular
Head Gear.
THREE TO FIVE MONTHS
TO MAKE The BEST HATS
Plating Must be Done in Humid At
mosphere - Manavi More
Proper Name Than
Panama.

The popularity of the Panama hat IN
this country gives particular interest
to the review of the Panama or Manavi
hat industry given in the report of Con-
sui General Perry NJ. de Lean to the
State Department.
Contrary to the general supposition
Ecuador is the largest manufacturer
CT this product. Her cacao crop repre-
scnts about one-third Of the worlds
supply; her hammocks made In the
coast provinces notably those Of Man
avi, can not be excelled by any made
elsewhere; while her straw hats are the
finest in the world.
u,..o,v The Manavi (Pana-
Of the ma hat was first made
Industry. in the province of Ma
nayi, Ecuador, about two hundred and
seyenty-five years ago, by a native
named Francisco Delgado. The present
centers Of the industry are Monte
Cristi and Jipijapa, in the province of
Nianavi, and Santa Elena and Cuenca,
in the provinces Of Guayas and Azuay,
respectively. They came to be known
as Panama hats years ago, when that
city was a distributing center. In
Ecuador, Colombia and Central Ameri-
ca, the hat is known by the natives rs
the "Jipijapa" pronounced Hipy-hapa)
bit as they are made elsewhere In
Ecuador, principally in the province Of
Mlnavi (Mahn-ah-vee and as the
rame is easy TO pronounce, 1t seems
to me it might take the place of the
present misleading appellation.
cu,,;vot;or This is a native grass
OF the or species of cane. II Is
Plant. cultivated in the prov.
inces of Manavi and Guayas and Is
Known as "paja toquilla." In appear
alice 1T resembles very much our saw
palmetto; it is fan--like in shape.
-ow-lying, wet land Is selected and
the seed planted in rows during the
rainy season. When the grass attaii 5
a height of Az to 5 feet, it is cut just
before ripening, boiled in hot water,
and, after being thoroughly sun dried,
Is assorted and ready for use
procrss The straw is first
OF Manu- carefully selecte I'd.
facture. dampened to make 1t
pliable and then very finely divided
.Eto requisite widths, the little finger
o. thumb nail being used for the pur-
pose. The plating commences at the
apex of the crown and Is continued in
circular form until the hat Is finished.
Tho wor kis carried on while the at
TGsphere is humid from about mid
II can be replaced and so plated as not
to affect the work nor be visible to the
naked eye. 1t requires from three II
FIVE months daily labor of three hours
per day to make one Of the finest hats.
The business in its highest develop
ment is really an art, requiring pa.
oibht Sp'Nldl
qualifications few Of the natives pos
scss. The plating completed, the hat
is washed in clean, cold water, coated
with thin solution of gum, and polish
ed with dry powdered sulphur. They
are so pliable that they can be rolled
np without injury and put in ones
packet; they will last for years and can
be repeatedly cleaned.
Natives of bot hseXes and all ages are
engaged in this work at odd times, the
business being a side issue. Children
make from raw, undressed straw about
two OF the common hats per day.
pr;crs ~ The Cuenca ha:
Hats and WHOLESALERS at from -
Markets. to 60 sucres 1872 TO
s2G40) per dozen; finest, at ~ to Is
sucres (s5.2S to $500 each; the Man
avi hat brings to so sucres (sl.S2 to
1927 per dozen; finer hats, 10 to 40
sucres GAO to $3.50 each; fancy
hats, so to 100 sucres 1922 to si4) and
mere each.
The principal markets for hats are
Cuba and Central America, nearly all
for the United States being sent in
transit for Cuba.
Peru has been taking a large quaI-
tity of the straw from which she manu-
features hats, competing sharply wi n
Ecuador and causing a decline in the
industry; but the export duty imposed
by the last Congress is reviving the
business exports in 1899 being 10000
sucres more than in 1898. Since the
Germans, with characteristic enter
Prise, have been running line OF
steamers from Hamburg 20 San Fran
cisco, some shipments are going to that
CITY.
The finest hats ever made were by o
native named Palma, and were exhibit
ed at the Paris exposition when Napo-
leon III. was Emperor. The two best
we're bought by French gentleman
fer 1900 francs (s193) and presented to
the Emperor and Marshal MacMahon.
Palma Is now dead, but there are two
or three others who possess equal skin.