Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-13
THE POPULAR PANAMA
HOW THE PRESENT HAT HABIT
GREW UP.
Where the Palm Leaf Headgear is
Made-Most Come From
Ecuador

The moth-eaten and threadbare Jokes
about the expensive hats for women in
comparison with the democratic headgear
Of the men of family must be laid away
for q while. For many years there has
been little change in the prices of men s
straw hats The regular article ranged
from 81 30 to So, with bargain counter vari-
atoms The man who waits for bargains
until the season is well advanced is reward
ed by securing a "first-class article from
a huckster's wagon at 80 cents
But this summer has brought a new straw
hat condition, because of the popularity of
the Panama. In discussing the matter
hat dealer said that the Panama hat habit
was an outgrowth of expansion. Our peo-
pie have been going to the tropical posses
sions of late" he said, land the big, light
straw hats. which are called Panama, be-
cause they come from almost any old place
down south except Panama, are among the
souvenirs which they bring back with them.
One person in family having one of these
hats made the others want the same kind.
and in that way little orders became large
ones, hats were made in large quantities
for Yankee trade and the Panama hat
habit became established.
From Ecuador.
The chief shipping point for Panama hats
Is Guayaquil, and it was on the order of
merchant at that point that the first South
American hats of the Alpine shape were
made. Before 1897 all of these hats were
of the shapeless sombrerO shape. with
crease across the top of the crown. The
shape has been improved, but the method
of making the hats is the same as 1t was
many years ago, when they received the
name Panama" because they came by
way of that place to the United States and
other distant countries. The material used
in the making of Panama hats is the screw
al I'M hN n
palmata. 1t is of the palm family, and is
described by Charles R. Dodge. expert for
the United States on fibers as follows:
1T is StemleSS species, common IN
shady places all over Panama and along
the coast of New Granada and Ecuador.
The leaves, pleated like fan. are borne
on three-cornered stalks, six to fourteen
feet high. They are about four feet in d.
ameter and deeply cut into four or five di-
visions each Of which is again cut. The
leaves are gathered while young and stiff,
and the parallel veins are removed, after
which they are split into shreds, but not
separated at the stalk end, and immersed
In boiling water for short time and
bleached in the sun
Work of the Weaver.
These strands are about a yard long and
about a half inch wide. Before they are
ready for the braider they are rolled from
either edge and become round, and then
they are again pressed fiat and are ready
for the weaver. In order to work the ma
terial 1t must be dipped into water every
few minutes. If this is not done the strands
become brittle and break. a hat to COM
mand a high price must be perfect, and in
order that it may be so and have no loose
strand, no broken part, the weavers never
work in the hot hours of the day, and many
Of them do their weaving only at night, by
candle light.
first-class hat one Of the kind offered
in this city at the present time for S75, usu-
ally takes about six months to make and
when II comes here it is shapeless, dirty
and unsightly. Here II is cleaned and
pressed into Shape. The expert can tell by
the button" the central point of the
the work, in which part OF the country the
hat was made. Every country has its pc
culiar style. which is taught to the children
when they begin to work. They practice on
lOw-grade material for years, and when
they have acquired sufficient skill they be-
gin work with the better material, but it
matters not what grade of hat they make,
the button" is always made in the same
way.
Napoleon's Panama
One of the famous Panama hats was the
one which was worn by Louis Napoleon
some time in the fifties. 1t had great
breadth of brim, was firm in texture as
silk, pliable and exceedingly light. The hat
was valued at 500 1t took a long time in
those days 10 order merchandise from
South America, and the emperor had the
satisfaction of possessing the only hat of
the kind in Paris. But the next season the
broad-brimmed Panama hats were popular
with persons who could afford TO pay high
prices for the luxury. and the same thing
happened In Paris that has taken place
here-straw hat makers put imitation hats
on the market. and the original article suf-
fered In popularity. The hat makers in
southern France and Italy flooded the coun-
try with Panama" hats. and Napoleon III
gave the fashion its death stroke by pre-
senting his famous specimen to the head
gardener of the Tuileries
New Orleans was the American headouar-
tiers for Panama hats before the civil war
ana the place where they were sold largely
was the French market. In those DAYS ice
was sent TO Havana in casks padded and
packed with straw. The empty casks were
returned to New Orleans. and usually con-
tanned. besides the refuse straw, bundles of
fanama hats. the profits in which We're di-
Vlded between the shipper and the skipper
VINO smuSSled them into port
One of the finest specimens that ever
came TO New York was owned by a man
who was one Of the American agents of
the Havana lottery.