Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1902-08-01
THE POPULAR PANAMA hat.
WHERE AND HOW THE PALM
LEAF HEADGEAR 10 MADE.

! JoktS ABOUT tne expensive hats TOT
women in comparison with the demo-
cratic headgear OF the men OF a fam
lily must be laid away for a while.
For many years there has been little
change in the prices of mems straw
hats. The regular article ranged
from $3.50 to S., with bargain counter
variations, The man who waits for
bargains until the season Is we'll ad-
vanced is rewarded by securing a
't1rst-class article" from a huckster's
wagon at so cents.
But this summer has brought new
straw hat condition, because of the
| popularity Of the Panama. In discus
sing the matter hat dealer said that
the Panama hat habit was an out
growth of expansion. "Our people
have been going to the tropical pos
sessions Of late" he said, 'and the
| big, light straw hats, which are called
Panama because they come from
almost any old place down south ex-
cept Panama, are among the souve-
Mrs which they bring back with
them. One person in a family hay
| ing one of these hats made the others
I 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"
The chief shipping point for Pana-
ma hats is Guayaquil, and it was on
the order of a merchant ut 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 a
crease across the top of the crown.
The shape has been improved. but the
method of making the hats is the
same as it was many years ago, when
they received the name Panama" be-
cause they came by way of that place
to the United States and other dis
tarI countries. The material used
in the making of Panama hats is the
screw palm, called by naturalists
Carludovica palmata. 1t is of the
palm family, and is described by
Charles R. Dodge. expert for the
United States on fibres, as follows:
1T Is stemless species, common
in shady places ali over Panama and
along the coast of New Granada and
Ecuador. The leaves, pleated like a
/ fan, are borne on three-cornered
/ stalks six to fourteen feet high They
| are about 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 stir,
and the parallel veins are removed
/ after which they are split into shreds,
/ but not separated at the stalk end,
| and immerseI in boiling water for
/ short time and bleached in the sun"
These strands are about yard long
and about a half inch wide Before
they are ready for the braider they
are rolled from either edge and be-
come rcvnd, and then they are again
pressed fiat and are ready for the
weaver. In order to work the ma
| terial it must be dipped into water
every few minutes. If this is not
done the strands become brittle and
break. A hat to command a high
price must be perfect, and in order
that it may be so and have no loose
strand, no broken part, the veavers
never work in the hot hours of the
day, and many of them do their weav-
ing only at night, by candle light.
A frst-class hat, one of the kind
offered in this city at the present time
for $75, usually takes about six
months to make and when It comes
here it is shapeless, dirty and I'M
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. Every country has its peculiar
style, which is taught to the children
when they begin to work. They prac-
tice on low-grade material for years,
and when they have acquired suffl-
cient skill they begin work with the
better material, but it matters not
what grade of hat they make, the
button" is always made in the same
way.
One of the famous Panama hats was
the one which was worn by Louis Ma
poleon some time in the f1fties. 1t
had great breadth of brim, was firm
in texture as silk, pliable and ex-
ceedingly light. The hat was valued
at $500. 1t took long time in those
days to 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 buimmed Pana-
ma 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 imi-
tation hats on the market, and the
original article suffered in popularity.
The hat makers in southern France
and Italy flooded the country with
Panama" hats, and Napoleon III
gave the fashion its deEth stroke by
presenting his famous specimen to
The head gardener of the Tulleries.
New Orleans was the American
headquarters 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
contained, besides the refuse straw,
bundles of Panama hats. the profits
in which were divided between the
shipper and the skipper who SNUG