Panama Hat Thread

[B.J. Hedberg]

Now that is a fine looking collection to be proud of.

 

[Aureliano]

Now that is a fine looking collection to be proud of.

Thanks, BJ!

 

[Jantjeuh]

Nice hat! Second one from the left, what shape is that? Really like it!

 

[delectans]

Very impressive display of Ecuadorian straw, Alejandro! :eusa_clap Nice piano as well!

 

[Aureliano]

Nice hat! Second one from the left, what shape is that? Really like it!

Thanks! That's the hat my late old man got the year I was born. It is a fine specimen. The shape is a shallow-ish center dent I put using one of my blocks.

 

[Aureliano]

Very impressive display of Ecuadorian straw, Alejandro! :eusa_clap Nice piano as well!

Thanks, Al. fftopic: I love my Essex, it's Steinway & Sons' new-ish (I bought it 4 years ago) line of small uprights. Perfect for our former Manhattan apartment. Now that we've moved, I think it's time to go baby grand!

 

[hatophile]

Very impressive display of Ecuadorian straw, Alejandro! :eusa_clap Nice piano as well!

+100

 

[Aureliano]

Thanks, Perry.

 

[mayserwegener]

Aureliano, What a fantastic collection! Great photo too!

 

[monbla256]

Here's one of my favorite Montecristi's, my Semi-Calado from PB. He sent it to Gus Miller at Batsakes to be blocked and finished. I LOVE these AC'd Monti's

 

[Aureliano]

Nice semi cAlado MontEcristi!

 

[alanfgag]

Lovely line-up. They go well with the painting... Clyfford Still or perhaps a painter closer to home?

 

[monbla256]

Nice semi cAlado MontEcristi!

My appologies for the misspelling

 

[Aureliano]

Lovely line-up. They go well with the painting... Clyfford Still or perhaps a painter closer to home?

Thanks, Alan. People say it looks like a Still but you're right, it's way closer to home. It's one of my 2005 series of oil landscapes.

 

[JAVIER]

Pick up this 100% Palm Leaf Hat made by the Maya Quiche Indians of western Guatemala, Its label or style is "La Giralda" by Palm Hat Factory. It similar in style to Sunbody's Palm River Gambler, or Panama Bob's Montecarlo. I know its not an expensive grab, but it looks and feels nice http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260805145057&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

picked it up for under $14 and combined shipping (Zero dollars) since I grabbed http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260805144137&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
another nice little grab.

 

[Panamabob]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/user/panadorhats#p/u/6/1DLc3o_bWkQ[/video]

[huh] Just poking fun, not insinuating anything. I'm ashamed he's a fellow Hoosier.

 

[new2hats]

Welcome back Bob! BTW just ordered some more hats from you!

Does the Trafino really compare to the legendary Monticristi costing thousands? Is it machine made? Is the industry headed in that direction?

 

[T Rick]

Does the Trafino really compare to the legendary Monticristi costing thousands? Is it machine made? Is the industry headed in that direction?

Well, he seems to be implying that it is machine made. And the manual weaving from everything I've read is in fact a dying art, with the newer generations having no interest in taking it up for the most part. It would be much more telling I think, if this video didn't use a black hat, making it very difficult to get a good look at the weave.

 

[Panamabob]

Welcome back Bob! BTW just ordered some more hats from you!

Does the Trafino really compare to the legendary Monticristi costing thousands? Is it machine made? Is the industry headed in that direction?

It's a fine Cuenca, the black one, that's for sure, but the video, I think, is ridiculous. The comparison at the end is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. That hat on the right is hardly the standard panama hat from Cuenca. The weave is much more coarse than the grade 0, or reject/garbage hats. I wonder where it is from.

The hats are still hand woven. I'm unsure what investment they've made, other than the blocks that go into the hat presses.

Thanks. I hope the hats make it up with speed. My trip in the middle of the season actually brought production to a screeching halt, because I was there and they couldn't take shortcuts nor send "cruddy" hats. They say they're all in the mail. One can hope.

The finest Cuenca hats are nice, but nothing like the finest Montecristis.

 

[Panamabob]

Well, he seems to be implying that it is machine made. And the manual weaving from everything I've read is in fact a dying art, with the newer generations having no interest in taking it up for the most part. It would be much more telling I think, if this video didn't use a black hat, making it very difficult to get a good look at the weave.

I'm sure it's just they way they are pressing and machining the hats. You don't reinvent the wheel. I've found some tremendously good hats in Cuenca, so he's just probably tapping into the high end that others leave alone. The marketing gurus have pushed Montecristis, but the natural Cuencas are very, very nice.