February 5, 2025

Manta is known as the Puerta del Pacífico, or the Tuna Capital of the World. If you have eaten Bumble Bee tuna, it was probably caught in Manta, they have a large tuna processing plant here. Canned tuna is a good business. Recently, Taiwanese tuna trader FCF Co. acquired Bumble Bee Foods for 928 million dollars. Having been to Dutch Harbor and Nome, Alaska I have seen enough fish processing to last a lifetime so we thought we would take off on another adventure.

The homes in Manta are simple with hammocks being the sleeping choice. There are large elaborate barbeque grills that are shared by multiple families to cook some tasty beef usually from Argentina.

My mission was to visit the town of Montecristi, where a huge statue at the entrance of town gives homage to a special skill that the residents of this town have cultivated for over 100 years.

The skills to make this product have been passed down by generations. This industry was the backbone of the Ecuadorian economy for those who lived in Montecristi, and even today, some families continue to use age-old techniques to authentically produce these well-known sartorial accessories. The fiber is obtained from the Carludovica palmate plant that grows only in this region. Ladies boil the fibers in huge pots to soften the material, then dry it in the shade. Then begins the hard work, as the product is formed row by painstaking row. The finer the fiber, the longer the process takes. A superfino (top quality) product takes at least four months to weave. Although almost all the artists are woman, one man, Simone, is a master craftsperson and only produces two items per year. One was recently purchased for $10,000.00 dollars, an amazing sum when the average salary in Ecuador is $460.00 per month. The purchaser: Sylvester Stallone. When it is rolled up, it will fit through an average wedding ring. Once the weaving is done, it needs to be shaped — a bit of ironing takes care of that — and finally, the traditional black band is fitted, and it is completed.

Now you know the story of the Montecristi hat.

But wait, most of you probably recognize this as a Panama hat.

Well, it seems that when the Panama Canal was being built all those workers needed a well-constructed light weight hat to shade all those workers from the deadly heat. One of the engineers remembered seeing the ideal type of hat being worn by farm workers in Ecuador so thousands of hats were sent to Panama which became a staple of the workers’ wardrobe. Construction workers building the Panama Canal always wore the hats, as their wide brims protected them from the harsh hot sun. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt inspected the construction of the canal in a white linen suit topped off with one of the Ecuadorian hats. When returning to the United States he was asked where he had found such a fine hat and Teddy replied, “In Panama”. Photos of Roosevelt unintentionally launched a fashion trend, and the name stuck. The Panama hat has been forever infamously misnamed. Now you know that the handmade straw headgear actually hails from Ecuador, the only place to buy a real Montecristi hat.

And if you buy a Panamanian hat in Panama, it was made in Ecuador. (or maybe China) 

As my older readers will recognize from Paul Harvey, a celebrated journalist, who would often finish his show with a famous line – “And now you know…the rest of the story.”

Thanks for traveling with us.

thirdmill update Ecuador. Fred Jonkman, who started and oversees the Jonkman Theological Study Center, shared, “We started a Pastoral Training School with three churches in Quito. The courses have been very well received, and the students are all saying that they are learning a great deal. The material challenges them and opens their understanding of the Bible. In this oral and visual culture, the students love the video presentations”.