The history of the 16th century records the fact that, after taking possession of the Isthmus of Panama, the Spaniards hear about the riches of the south, and decided on a rapid extension of their request.
These proud, ambitious conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro, reached the lands of present- day Ecuador in 1526, and some years later, 1534, founded the Royal Audience of Quito.
The Spanish colonial empire was then set up, crushing forever Atahualpa’s fabulous Inca Empire. A thirst for adventure and gold drew innumerable colonist from the Iberian Peninsula. They seized the land and the power in the name of their triumphant Catholicism, driven by an unchallengeable sentiment of superiority over the indigenous race which had welcomed them, and founded a society which set the seal on illegality.
In this brutal confrontation of cultures, the Spaniards and the native people discovered a great many improbable things. And if history has identified the Spanish conquest with its introduction of the horse into South America, legend for its part, has taken hold of a curious story about hats.
The story is that the first Spaniards, discovering strange headgear being worn by some of the natives, took this light, translucent material for vampire skin. For a people who were already subjugated by these proud invaders, it was an amusing revenge to deceive them with such beliefs. Archaeological discoveries of ceramic figures wearing curious hats have been made on the Ecuadorian coast; these have contributed to the persistence of the curious anecdote. Whether it be a real fact or a native belief, this story already provided a legendary role for what was later to be known as the panama hat.
No further trace of it is to be found until a century later, in the provinces of Guayas and Manabí which are coastal regions of Ecuador. The year 1630 saw the start of the artisanal production of this straw hat, which is unique in the world.
Francisco Delgado, a Creole of intuition and passion, now makes his entry into the legend. This talented weaver owes his places in the history to the official registers. To recognize him is also to become aware of the cultural and commercial importance of a singular product which was to change the economic life of the coast for several decades. In effect, the second half of the 17th century saw the start of notable development of this artisanate, which really took off the 18th century.
At that time, the hat bore several names. It was called “jipijapa”, from the name of a small town of Manabí which was supposed to be its traditional origin, or again, already, “montecristi”, a name it still goes by today among the specialist of quality panamas.
Montecristi is a small town built on the side of the desert hill, near the large port of Manta. It dates from the 18th century, and had its hour of glory at the time of General Eloy Alfaro, an Ecuadorian hero who was born in Montecristi and spent his youth there. It owes its fame, however, to the fact that it is the home of the world’s best weavers of straw hats.
The “Jipijapa”, or “Montecristi” has also been called “toquilla”, a popular name which a popular name which has remained attached to it. The word is derivative of “toque” which is the name of the hats that Spaniards wore at the time of the conquest.
This toquilla straw, which continues today to provide a livelihood for some thousands of Ecuadorian, came into its own at the end of 18th century, when José Pavón and Hipolito Ruiz, who were botanists at the royal gardens in Madrid, were sent to South America by King Charles IV to catalogue the flora there. The “toquilla” received the name of “Carludovica palmata” in honor of the king and his wife Luisa, and thus it was that it made its entry into the botany texts.
