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Panama Hats
The Panama hat, dating back to the Incas, is handwoven in Ecuador from Torquilla Paya, an indigenous fibre, grown on the Ecuadorian coast - so called because they were the chosen protection from the tropical sun for the constructors of the Panama Canal.
When a French entrepreneur introduced them at the great Paris Exhibition of 1855 they were an instant success, soon to adorn the crowned heads of Europe. In 1901 on the death on Queen Victoria, English gentleman placed a black band around their Panama
hats, and continue to do so to this day.
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