Roosevelt, wore proudly a panama hats

This president is remembered for his incredible tenacity and his strong personality, in addition to his large amount of interests. Roosevelt ‘s achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier contribute both to his fame and his political office. Despite being very sickly as a child, he overcame his condition and became a boxing champion. All this even though doctors had told him he could never perform physical activities that required much effort because he also suffered from asthma.

Roosevelt was an fervent acolyte of the idea that the building of Panama Canal was necessary to improve the comercial trades. Thus, in 1906 during a visit to the construction in progress, he saw some workers using hats made of a lightweight and flexible material, perfect for the wet and hot climate of the region, which added to their long hours of work, these hats were a method needed to stay fresh.

So Theodore Roosevelt meets for first time the toquilla straw hats. On that occasion he was photographed wearing one and this image appeared in the New York Times, which gave these accessories international fame, but their origin was initially confused and recived the popular name “Panama Hat“, after the place in which they were sold, although its origin was actually Ecuadorian.

Over time this name settled in popular culture, however thanks to the ongoing efforts to make known the true origin of this valuable product, today many people around the world have acknowledged that they came from Ecuador.

Roosevelt was an example of a great man for his ideals and his policies of equality and employment rights, and at the same time he shared with other great men like Eloy Alfaro, one of the best presidents of Ecuador, the taste for Montecristi Hat, which are made using traditional methods and months of the hard work of ecuadorian hands.