Put On a Panama

One of the most refined and notorious balmy weather hats is shrouded in tall tales -- some true, some not.

Panamanians refer to their country as "the bridge of the world," most likely due to its famous canal.

But the Panama hat has more to do with the canal itself than the country as a whole. In fact, this Mercedes-Benz of the hat world originated in Ecuador.

Long before the canal was built, Napoleon wore the famous straw hat, and Inca Indian workers before him.

Only when President Teddy Roosevelt wore the hat (most likely purchased in Ecuador) at the building of the canal at the turn of the century did the hat became a status symbol.

The misguided name "Panama hat" stuck.

Since then, the Panama has graced the heads of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant and Winston Churchill.

The hat's popularity in the U.S. came in with a president and went out with one as well. John F. Kennedy was the first president to be inaugurated without a hat and as a result, Ecuador's hat industry -- its number one export -- tanked.

"It was like the stock-market crash of hats," remarks Tony Lippi, who runs the Panama Hat Company in St. Augustine, Fla., with his parents Consuelo Soria and Chuck.

Today, celebrities like Robert Redford and Anthony Hopkins in Silence of The Lambs continue to sport this classic. Hawaii-based Brent Black, one of the most well known Panama hat salesmen, lists some famous owners of his Montecristi Panama hats, including Bill Cosby, Harrison Ford, Molly Ringwald and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A Dying Reed

Lippo and his family make four trips a year to Ecuador to visit relatives and hunt down high quality Panamas. But their task is getting harder.

The Lippos look for weavers who can craft super finos, the highest grade of hat made from the finest thread (or straw) count. Usually it's a matter of driving from village to village and relying on word of mouth.

Only about ten or so weavers in the world are capable of making the elusive super fino, says Lippo, and most of them are concentrated in the town of Montecristi on the Ecuadorian coast.

One of them is Cenovio Espinal, whose eyesight and resulting hat count is waning. But while other hat weavers are finding different occupations, says Lippo, Espinal is teaching his children the centuries-old art.

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