Where are the famous Panama Hats made?

This is a question that I've seen in the board game "Trivia Pursuit" and the famous TV show "Who wants to be a millionaire." The name obviously suggests that the Panama hat is made in Panama, but in reality this hat is exclusively produced in Ecuador. Panama Hats or Toquilla Straw Hats as they are also known have always been handcrafted by artisans from the towns of Montecristi on the coast of Manabi in Ecuador and use a very fine and thin straw called Toquilla Straw, which only grows in this region of the world.

The history of this hat name started when an Ecuadorean businessman named Manuel Alfaro who had his own plantations in Montecristi, decided in 1835 to hire several experienced weavers and build a hat business. His business prospered and when the Ecuadorian market got limited, he decided to extepand his business by exporting straw hats to Panama, since this country was becoming a major center for business. Shortly after he opening stores in Panama, he attracted the attention of many customers around the world that passed through Panama, which was already a major trading port.

Eloy Alfaro, son of Manuel Alfaro and later President of Ecuador took over the family and at the early 1900s, Ecuador was exporting thousands of hats to Panama, taking advantage that the Panama Canal was being built by many workers and American engineers who needed sun protection. The hat then was baptized by all foreigners in Panama as "Panama Hat" because it was linked to the country where it was bought. The popularity grew throughout the world when the world press published a photo of President Theodore Roosevelt using a Montecristi hat during his visit to the channel.

The truth is that since then on, this beautiful Ecuadorian Montecristi Hat it is now known as Panama Hat.