We stopped at a Panama Hat factory on the way back from the park. Panama hats are traditionally made in Ecuador but were popular with workers in Panama so that’s where they got their name.
The hats are all handwoven from the top down by local women. They are delivered to the factory with the loose ends hanging down, like the one on the left.
The factory uses a big mechanical hammer to beat the fibres for hours to make them more flexible.
Then they press them into shape with steam and pressure.
The cheap hats use big fibres.
The $300 hats use very fine fibres and take over a year to weave.
Are your saying that it would take someone 8765 hours to make a hat or is it just a 52 week 9-5 type of job ( which would be less impressive)? And do they work for a year straight with no breaks ? If so that must break some labour laws, even down in South America. If it does violate labour laws did you report it? If you didn’t I suggest you do so. As I have read that South American jails aren’t very nice . Yes they are in a tropical climate which sounds nice but they aren’t just warm weather and relaxing in the shade and waiting for your sentence to be over.
Just wanted to say “hi”.
It just takes a long time. The weaving is very tight. You can see the difference between a 30$ and 600$ hat. They don’t even finish them until you pay. That is the shaping part all the weaving is done.
Very interesting article. We are enjoying following your travels.