The Panama Hat Trail Read online

  Wood, Bryce. Aggression and History: The Case of Ecuador and Peru. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Published for the Institute of Latin American Studies, Columbia University, by University Microfilms, International, 1978.

  Zahm, John Augustine (H. J. Mozans). Along the Andes and Down the Amazon. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1911.

  INDEX

  Act of Independence (1809), 13

  Agee, Philip, 17, 45, 188

  Aguilar, César, 69

  Alfaro, General Eloy, 58, 59, 82–86, 95, 103

  Alfaro, Manuel, 150

  Allen, Bill, 171

  Allende, Salvador, 28

  Anfangar, Lew, 204, 205

  Anfangar, Marty, 204–6

  Anfangar, Morris, 204, 205

  Archaeological dig at Salango, 67, 71–74 passim

  Archer, David, 171–72, 177

  Argentina: domestic and foreign affairs, 15, 185, 194; imports and exports, 30, 97; Jewish community in, 141–42; mentioned, 19, 194

  Artesanía trade, 29, 159

  Assembly Line (Traven), 139

  Avilés Alfaro, Colón, 83

  Avilés Alfaro, Eloy, 81–86

  Azogues: feria de paja in, 90–95; as a marketplace, 23, 137; mentioned, 34, 103, 117, 119, 120

  Barberán Loor, Carlos Elías, xi–xii, 40–42

  Barsky, Andrés, 193–94

  Bemelmans, Ludwig: as an anti–Semite, 188–89; mentioned, 130; The Donkey Inside, 12–13, 27, 187–88. See also Donkey Inside, The; Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

  Bernal Bravo, Eloy, 124

  Bernal Bravo, Moisés, 23–24, 124

  Biblián: as a marketplace, 23, 90–93 passim, 137, 139, 149–50, 201; mentioned, 106, 109, 111–12, 134–35, 138, 148, 155, 198; weavers, 24, 95, 101–4, 199

  Blomberg, Rolf, 47, 163

  Bolivia, 16, 49

  Brazil: devalued currency of, 96; hat sales to, 23–24, 26, 30; Jewish community in, 141; mentioned, 185

  Brisa-style weave, 93, 139, 149, 202, 207

  Bus rides: Bus Plunge Highway, 31–36; London–style, 14–15; mentioned, 74–75, 101, 117–18, 177–78, 181

  Byer, E. R., 54

  Byron, Robert, 190

  Calderón Encalada de Ojeda, Isaura, 93, 94, 102, 148

  Cañari Indians, 34, 105

  Carlos III (king of Spain), 48

  Carludovica palmata (toquilla straw plant), 48, 49

  Carmita’s (restaurant), 68, 71–75

  Castro, Fidel, 45. See also Cuba

  Chicha (drink), 155, 156, 164

  Chile: as a destination, 75, 76, 191; foreign affairs, 185; gastronomy of, 28, 99; mentioned, 32, 76, 144

  China (producer of imitation Panama hats), 121, 197, 200, 202

  Cholos (non-Indian peasants), 90, 147

  CIA, 17, 45, 188

  Cocaine, 180

  Cofán Indians, 167, 177, 181, 182, 183

  Colombia: as a destination, 175–80; Jewish community in, 140, 141, 144, 145; mentioned, 33, 50, 56, 143, 167, 169, 191; neighbor to Ecuador, 5, 14, 27, 72, 174

  Comercio, El, 14, 161, 188

  Comisionistas (middlemen), 23–24, 114, 125–26, 138

  Concertaje system, 105–6

  Corporación Estatal Petrolera Ecuatoriana (CEPE): CEPE-Texaco consortium operations at Lago Agrio, 167, 170, 171; mentioned, 167, 175

  Corpus Christi fiesta, 153, 158, 159

  Costeños (coastal people), 47, 57–58, 74, 154

  Cowboy hats, 26, 175, 199, 200

  Cuba: friction with Ecuador, 17, 45; revolution, 197

  Cuenca: as the center of hat trade, xii–xiii, 12, 16–17, 18–22, 41, 51, 54, 56, 62 191, 200; exporters, 23, 121, 149; feria de paja in, 90–92; Jewish community in, 140–46; Juan Cuenca – Biografía del Pueblo Sombrerero (poem), 126–28; population, 147, 161; weavers, 26, 135, 138

  Cuesta y Cuesta, Alfonso, 127

  Curtis, William E., 85

  Cuy (guinea pig), 130–33, 142, 150

  Déleg, 114, 117–20 passim

  Delgado, Carlos, 64

  Delgado, Franciso, 55

  Delgado, Rosendo, 62, 63–66

  Domingo (straw cutter): mentioned, 46–51, 198; straw harvest of, 54, 55, 74, 89, 148

  Donkey Inside, The (Bemelmans), 12–13, 27, 187–88

  Dorfzaun, Ernesto, 198

  Dorfzaun, Ilse, 143, 144

  Dorfzaun, Karl, 124, 125, 191, 197–203

  Dorfzaun, Kurt: business and workers of, 148–50, 159; Jewish culture, 142–45; mentioned, 123–24

  Earthwatch, 72–73, 74

  Ecuador: attitude toward U.S. of, 15, 20, 24, 27, 97–99, 105, 180; border war between Peru and, 6, 17, 184–86, 188; CIA and, 17, 45, 188; climate for growth of toquilla straw in, 18, 49, 50, 85; Cuba and, 17, 45; democracy in, 6, 13, 20, 72, 85, 162; economy of, 6, 7, 37, 117, 149; immigrants to U.S. from, 81, 83, 119, 120, 170; inferiority complex of, xi, 6; Jewish community in, 140–46, 160; Lago Agrio, 166–67, 169, 175, 183; Liberal Revolution in, 59, 82, 84, 95; oil deposits in, 50, 166–74, 183; Peace Corps and, 68, 72, 119, 145, 189; U.S. consuls to, 16, 76–77, 83, 140, 185

  Ecuadoran Panama Hat Company (New York), 54

  Ecuadoran straw hats (sombreros de paja toquilla): Cuenca as trade center for, xii–xiii, 12, 16–17, 18–22, 41, 51, 54, 56, 62 191, 200; exporting of, 26, 78–79, 95, 121, 124, 126, 150; Liberal Revolution and, 58, 72, 103, 150; mentioned, 55, 58, 66, 93, 197; “Panama” hat as misnomer for, 5, 12, 23, 123, 202, 206; processing and finishing operations for, 148, 197, 200–201, 205; worldwide popularity of, 65, 122, 198. See also Comisionistas; Exporters; Perros; Toquilla straw; Weavers

  Ecuador the Unknown (von Hagen), 27, 93

  Ecuatoriana Airlines, 150

  Encalada Martínez de Calderón, Catalina, 115

  Equator, 11, 67, 80, 128, 153, 191–93

  Estrada Ycaza, Julio, 37

  Exporters, xii, 23–30, 54, 58, 121, 124–26, 148, 198

  Febres Cordero: CIA efforts in, 45; family life in, 46, 48–49; mentioned, 31, 43–44, 197; pajeros in, 51, 54, 55, 75, 89, 90

  Feria de paja (straw fair), 24, 90

  Fiestas: civic, 65; for Corpus Christi, 153, 158, 159; for Saint John’s Day, 162, 164; mentioned, 20, 21–22, 131, 134, 154

  Fisch, Olga, 159–65 passim, 188–89, 193

  Four Years Among the Ecuadorians (Hassaurek), 110

  France: exports to, 30, 41; imports from, 107; mentioned, 58, 60, 141

  Franck, Harry A., 18, 28–29

  Galápagos Islands, 6, 73, 77, 192

  García Márquez, Gabriel, 98, 187

  García Moreno, President, 78

  Gibbons, Mike, 122–23

  González, Adriano: exporters and, 148, 149, 150; weavers and, 103, 111–13, 134–39, 198, 199

  González, Victor: as an importer, 31, 43, 45, 90, 92, 94, 198; warehouse of, 51, 55, 89

  Grapes of Wrath, The (Steinbeck), 97

  Guayaquil: Alfaro and, 81, 84, 95, 150; hat export port, 28, 38, 41, 51, 89, 95, 107, 150; Las Peñas section of, 81, 83, 85–86; peaceful protest in, 19; Quito’s rivalry with, 37, 40, 67, 85; U.S. affairs with, 77–79, 81, 97, 120, 185

  Guzmán, Samuel, 118–19

  Hagen, Victor von, 27, 93

  Hat restoration shops, 147–48

  Headdresses, woven, 55, 74

  Hijos, Los (Cuesta y Cuesta), 127–28

  Hotel Crespo (Cuenca), 130–31, 140, 142, 147

  Huasipungaje (indentured servitude), 6, 106

  Icaza, Jorge, 98

  Imitation Panama hats (Shantung), 69, 121–22, 197, 202, 205

  Incas (civilization): empire of the, 7, 12, 153; heritage of, 142; history of, 16, 41; Indians and, 105–10

  Incas (nightclub), 141

  Indians: culture and livelihood of, 12, 21, 38, 49, 153, 159, 164, 180; effect of oil discovery on, 166–67, 169, 174, 177; subjugation and exploitation of, 11, 13, 15, 40, 79, 94, 98, 105–10, 139, 141, 161

  Ingapirca (Inca ruins), 106–7, 108–9

  Inside the Compan
y: CIA Diary (Agee), 17, 45, 188

  Japan: climate in, 50; exports to and imports from, 149, 200

  Jaramijó: Los Amigos del Ritmo de, 65; mentioned, 58, 59

  Jipijapa, 41, 56, 67, 94

  Joiner, Elaine, 176, 177

  Joiner, Garreth, 176–77

  Keillor, Garrison, 198

  Kennedy, John F.: administration of, 106, 197; depictions of, 58, 59; reverence for, 17, 98, 199; Street, 63

  Koracorp Industries, 55

  Kuperman, Daniel, 140–42

  Lago Agrio, 166–71 passim, 174, 175–77, 181, 183

  La Libertad: market of, 45, 53; mentioned, 31, 43, 46; public services in, 49, 51

  Law of Agrarian Reform (1964), 106

  Levi Strauss, Claude, 166

  Levi Strauss (company), 55, 122, 199

  Liberal Revolution (1895), 58–59, 72, 81, 82, 84, 103. See also Ecuadoran straw hats

  Living Poor (Thomsen), 32, 189

  Loja: mentioned, 17, 142, 167, 168; Street, 163

  Luiz, Al, 122–24

  Manabí Province: hat production in, 41, 50, 55–56; mentioned, 57–58, 71; residents of, 42, 69

  Marin, Irving, 54, 121

  Massie, Tommy, 121–22, 123, 199, 201, 202

  Mata, G. H., 126–28

  Mercurio, El, 57, 145

  Mestizos (natives of mixed blood), 22, 64, 97

  Mexico: City, 13, 173; exporting of hats to, 23, 26, 30, 95; imports from, 97; mentioned, 119, 139, 173, 205

  Michaux, Henri, 12, 169

  Miller, Henry, 99–100

  Missionaries: mentioned, 17, 175, 176, 177, 181; preservation of Cofán language, 182, 183; Wyckliff Translators, 56, 59

  Monsalve Pozo, Dr. Luis, 125–26

  Montecristi: Canton of, xii–xiii; mentioned, 41, 56, 57–58, 60, 81, 102, 198; Montecristi fino hats, xi–xii, 42, 59, 62–66, 83, 92, 122, 197, 206

  Montuvios (natives of mixed blood), 47–48

  Muñoz, Ildefonso, 175–77, 181

  Napoleon (III, emperor of France), 58

  Nast, Thomas, 79–80, 81

  Norton, Presley, 71–73

  Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (Bemelmans), 188. See also Bemelmans, Ludwig

  Oil: camps, 173, 183; Minga and, 173–74; the national economy and, 6, 172–73; Quito and, 12, 177; Texaco and, 167, 171, 172, 174; Union Oil Company, 83–84; worker relations, 85, 166, 169, 174

  Ojeda family: mentioned, 93, 150; selling hats, 138–39, 148; weavers, 103, 112, 114–16

  Olmos, José A., 153, 156–57

  Olympic Games (1984), 122, 189, 202

  Orellana, Francisco de, 11, 15, 185

  Ortega, Homero, 24–25, 148

  Otavalan Indians, 164, 165, 188

  Pajeros (straw cutters): 46–47; Febres Cordero and, 51, 54, 55, 75, 89, 90

  Panama: Canal, 5, 83, 98, 116, 191; exports to, 58, 83, 150; Isthmus of, 5, 95; mentioned, 49, 95

  Panama hats. See Ecuadoran straw hats

  Peace Corps, 68, 72, 119, 145, 189

  Peñafiel Verdugo, Juan, 113–14

  Perros (independent hat buyers), 113–14, 125, 126, 137–38, 139

  Peru: border war between Ecuador and, 6, 17, 184–86, 188; guerrilla activity of, 5, 161; Jewish community in, 141; mentioned, 6, 32, 56, 108

  Phillips, Claude, 169–70

  Pizarro, Francisco, 185

  Pizarro, Gonzalo, 12, 185

  Plaza Gutiérrez, Leonidas, 81

  Posey, Bob, 199

  Pre-Columbian artifacts, 64, 65, 67, 153

  Protocol of Peace, Friendship, and Limits (1942), 185

  Puerto Colón, 178–80

  Puerto López, 67–69, 71, 72, 74

  Pujilí: Fiesta de Corpus Christi in, 153–58; mentioned, 153, 159

  Quito: Alfaro and, 81, 82; Bemelmans’s description of, 12, 187–88; cultural landscape of, 11, 19, 132, 159; foreign relationships with, 15, 16, 65, 76, 171; Guayaquil’s rivalry with, 37, 40, 67, 85; Jewish community in, 141, 145–46, 188; old town of, 12, 13; religion in, 176

  Quito Express (Bemelmans), 188

  Ramírez, Antonio, 46–49 passim, 51

  Ramírez, Juan, 43, 45–46, 51–52

  Rauff, Walter, 144

  Reinberg, Martin, 78, 79

  Resistol Hat Company: history of, 54, 55; problems with suppliers of, 121, 123, 124; procedural operations of, 144, 149, 191, 199, 203; U.S. placement of hats via, 93, 199, 204; workers of, 200, 201, 205

  Ribadeneira, Jorge, 188, 190

  Roldós, Jaime, 16–17

  Roman Catholicism: Cuenca, 20, 94; government and, 58, 82, 175; mentioned, 105, 142, 145, 160, 153; population in relation to, 59, 188

  Roosevelt, André, 189

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 58

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 79

  Ruiz, Hipólito, 48–49

  Safari-style hat, 123

  Saint-Criq, Laurent, 40, 105

  Saint John’s Day, 162, 164

  Salango, 67, 71–74 passim

  Schweitzer, Albert, 189–99

  Secoya Indians, 176–77

  Serrano, Bartolomé, 94–95,

  Serrano, Gerardo, 29–30, 123, 125, 148

  Serranos (mountain people), 37, 38, 40, 85

  Shuar Indians, 140, 142

  Shushufindi (oil camp), 173

  Smith, Delazon, 76

  Sombrero de Montecristi, El (Lupi), 60–61

  Sombreros de paja toquilla. See Ecuadoran straw hats

  South Africa, 197, 205

  South American Youth Zionist Federation, 141

  Spain: as a consumer of hats, 41, 64; imports from, 97; mentioned, 118, 185; scientists from, 48–49, 108

  Spanish-American War, 198

  Stansbury, Ray, 206–7

  Steinbeck, John, 97, 169

  Stetson (hat company), 123

  Straw Hats: Their History and Manufacture (Inwards), 55

  Summer Institute of Linguistics, 17, 56, 182

  Superfino hats, 28, 42

  Switzerland: bank accounts in, 85; hat exports to, 30, 41

  Taiwan, 121, 200

  Texaco Inc.: business operations of, 16, 167, 172; CEPE–Texaco consortium operations at Lago Agrio, 167, 170, 171; workers for, 15, 170–71, 174, 175; workplace compound of, 170, 183

  Thomsen, Moritz, 32, 189–90

  Toquilla straw: conditions for plant growth, 48–49, 50, 54, 194; exporting of (nineteenth and twentieth century), 58, 78, 126; feria de paja for weavers, 23, 89–90, 93; harvesting of, 38, 43, 46–51; history of, 55–56, 74, 94–95, 125; items other than hats made from, 66; mentioned, 25, 34, 81, 85, 112–15 passim; processing of, 26, 111, 123. See also Weavers; González, Victor; Febres Cordero

  To Quito and Back (Hecht), 189

  Toral, Victor, 131–32

  Traven, B., 41, 139

  Tres Estrellas (Cuenca restaurant), 131–33, 142

  Tristes Tropiques (Levi Strauss), 166

  Tuberculosis, 83, 127–29 passim

  Twain, Mark, 192, 193, 198

  Ugalde, B., 94

  UNESCO’s World Heritage List, 13

  United States (U.S.): attitude of Ecuadorans toward, 15, 20, 24, 27, 28, 42, 97–99, 105, 180; attitude toward Ecuador of, 6–7; consuls to Ecuador from, 16, 18, 76–80, 120; Ecuador–Peru border dispute and, 185; popularity of Ecuadoran straw hats in, 26, 30, 54, 55, 58, 62, 95, 198. See also CIA; Cuba; Panama Canal; Resistol Hat Company; Texaco Inc.

  U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 180

  Universidad Estatal de Cuenca, 18, 97, 99

  Uruguay, 30

  Vargas Llosa, Mario, 185–86

  Velasco Ibarra, 72, 102, 141, 185

  Vélez, Dora, 119

  Vélez Flor, Carlos, 119

  Venezuela: as a consumer of hats, 50; Jewish community in, 141; mentioned, 77, 173

  Vicuña, César, 101–2

  Vistazo (magazine), 28, 38

  Vueltas (rings), 41

  Ward, Edmundo, 38–40

  Weavers: of Biblián, 24, 101–4; brisa–sty
le weave, 93, 139, 149, 202, 207; comisionistas and, 23, 111–13, 136; Cuenca school for, 94–95; exploitation of, 24, 41, 60, 125, 127, 139; of Febres Cordero, 48; feria de paja for, 23, 90–92; of Montecristi, xii, 42, 62; perros and, 114, 137–38. See also Cuenca; González, Adriano; Hijos, Los; Ojeda Family; Toquilla Straw; Tuberculosis

  Weile, Charles, 78

  Western Hat Works, 204–7 passim

  Wheelright, William, 76

  Wolfe, Tom, 198

  World Exposition (1855), 95

  Yanchapaxi, Carmita, 68, 71, 72

  Yellow fever (yellow jack), 77, 78, 80, 83

  Zevallos, Alejandro, 57–59 passim

  Zevallos Marzumillaga, Fernando, 56, 57, 63

  Zionism, 141, 142

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Tom Miller’s eleven books include Trading with the Enemy, On the Border, Revenge of the Saguaro, and, most recently, Cuba, Hot and Cold. His articles on Latin America and the American Southwest have appeared in Smithsonian, LIFE, the New York Times, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines. The capital of Ecuador has proclaimed Miller “Un Huésped Illustre de Quito” for his literary contribution to the country, especially The Panama Hat Trail. He lives in Tucson, Arizona, where he is affiliated with the Latin American Studies Center at the University of Arizona.