Wednesday, March 11, 2015

What a special day!!

Our granddaughter Jordan has come for a visit. We have enjoyed a wonderful time with her and have been exploring the nearby areas. One day ,Felix, who is our landlord,guide and friend took us all to a factory making the "Panama Hat" run by his uncle. Mr Avila was a wonderful host and very willingly,gave us the grand tour.  He started by showing us a video depicting the raw material, a special palm like plant,grown and harvested in an area called Montechristi . There the stalks are cut,made into thin strips, dried and woven into the basic hat.This raw hat is then shipped to Mr Avila
to create the famous Panama Hat. There are many factories, however Mr Avila is known worldwide for his quality and ships all over the world.



                                     




                                       

                                           
                                       



The hats arrive the Avila Hat Factory  like this






The hats are placed in a warm chlorine bath for three days to bleach as well as kill any resident insects


Then dried

Now he forms the hats into the various shapes and sizes. The are many molds to accomplish this






                                                 

The hat is shaped around the selected mold


Pressed in a hot press for 10-15 seconds

                                                                       Comes out like this

 Producing 400 to 450 hats per day.

                                                           Next comes the labeling





                                                                  and the black band

Here the labels and band are attached.Each country  has its own " Made in ?? " label
His hats are shipped all over the world.
 Right now there is a controversial program instituted by the Ecuadorian President to change the name to "Ecuadorian Hat" and use the" Made in Ecuador" label only. 

We all tried on a selection of his hats













The hat on the right becomes the hat on the left after pressing and trimming






We then discovered that this famous " Mexican Hat" is actually made in Ecuador


At the end of the tour Mr Avila showed us that some of his hats are so finely woven that they can be rolled up, placed in a hand made wooden box, shipped anywhere and when unrolled will resume its original shape.








We all enjoyed the tour. It was fascinating. Mr Avila wanted his picture taken with Jordan


             AND then the best surprise of all,  he presented us ALL with a free hat of our choice



                          So now you know the true story. All Panama hats are made in Ecuador.
                They are hand made from start to finish.The finest quality will sell for over $3000