Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1902-07-17
The Panama Hat.

The Panama hat craze is probably the most
expensive fashion ever adopted by men, Ly
man Gage is SAID to have paid $500 for one,
King Edward VII paid $500, Eeszke 5000 and
ex-Mayor Van Wyck, of New York, $3.50.
These figures are of course way above the
average, but no Panama hat worth wearing
can be had for less than $2s. If you desire
hat that may be tucked away in your vest
pocket, like u lead pencil, or slipped through
finger ring, you may expect to pay some
one of the large prices quoted above.
In spite of the figures Panama hats, by the
ship load, are beng sent from South America
to this country, about half the population of
Ecuador and hundreds of persons in other
South American countries are now at work,
helping to meet the extraordinary demands
of our market.
What is the Panama hatp
Prior to 1897 all of these hats were OF the
shapeless sombrero style, with crease across
the top of the crown The shape has been
improved, but the method of making the hat
is the same as it was many years ago, when
when it received the name Panama. because
they began to come to the United States by
way of that place. The material used in the
Panama hat, is the screw palm, called by
naturalsts carindopica palmata,. 1t is Of the
palm family, and is described by Charles X.
Dodge, expert for the United States On tbres,
as follows:
ut is a stemless species, common in shady
places all over Panama, and along the coast
of New Grenada and Ecuador. The leaves,
plated like q fan are borne on three.cornered
stalks. six to fourteen feet high. They are
four feet in diameter and deeply cut into four
or five divisions, each of which is again cut.
The leaves are gathered while young and
stiff and the parallel veins are removed, after
which they are slit into shreds, but are not
separated at the stalk end, and immersed in
boiling water for short time and bleached
in the SUM-"
The strands are about half.inch wide
Before they are ready Tor the braider they
are rolled from either edge and become round
and are then again pressed fiat and are ready
for the weaver. In order to work the mate.
rial it must be dipped into water every few
minutes If this is not done the strands get
brittle and break. A hat to command high
price must be perfect, and in order that it
may be so and haye no loose strand, no broken
part, the weavers never work during the hot
hours of the day, and many of them do their
weaving only at night, by candle light
A first class hat usually takes about six
months to make, and when it comes here it
is shapeess, dirty and unsightly. Here it is
cleaned and pressed into shape. The expert
can tell by the "button," the central point Of
the crown of the hat where the weaver begins
the work, in which part Of the country the
hat was made.
The name Of the hat is misleading as it
gives the i'm ression that the fabric is made
In Panama, whereas the fact is that Ecuador
and Columbia produce two thirds of the
Panamas in the market. The city of Panama
is merely shipping port for the hats brought
from these places
The value of q hat depends entirely upon
its texture and plability. One that cost $500
for example, should be 80 closely woven as
to appear practically smooth to the naked
eye. 1t is of course, made in one piece, and
if the owner has not been cheated, he should
be able to squeeze his hat through his finger
ling. But hat capable of this treatment is
about as rare as q blue diamond.
The craze over Panamas began last year
and appeared only to be transient, but the
enterprlsing merchants of pur big cities fore
told that this summer would find demand
far greater than the supply, and they put in
their orders about six months ago. Since
then the Panama hat industry has become
more lucrative than any other industry in
that part of South America adjoining the
isthmus, and with the prospect of making a
fortune many planters haye abandoned the
raising of coffee and rice. The mountain
passes of the Andes from Chimborazo to the
north coast TEEN, day and night with large
columts Of pack mules and OK curtis, bearing
their precious burden to Panama. Panama's
streets are hanked with the establishments of
hat brokers, and half the city Is engaged.
one way or the other, in helping to further
this American "craze."
1t is understood generally that 1t is only
woman's privilege to get silly in matters of
fashion and to 60 wild over "a love ola hat"
but the Panama hat fad equals the bang, the
hustle and the hand dresslift combined, for
universally of attack. and costs moe
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