![\"panamaalhcov\"](\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/panamaalhcov.jpg\")
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I was tired. I had journeyed nearly 7,000 miles, from Honolulu\u00a0to a tiny town in Ecuador, for the privilege of viewing a genuine Montecristi\u00a0fino. As I weighed it in my hands, held it to the light to study the impossibly\u00a0fine weave, felt its suppleness between my fingers, and listened to an old\u00a0weaver lament the impending extinction of this centuries-old art\u2014I knew\u00a0my life had found its mission.<\/p>\n
I was tortured by the likelihood that in a generation, or less, the art of\u00a0weaving the most exquisitely crafted hats in the history of the world would be\u00a0no more. I believed then, as I believe now, that the only way to save the art\u00a0is to create a greater demand for it. And for the past eight years, creating\u00a0that demand has been the consuming passion of my life. So much so that the\u00a0distinctive, somewhat pungent odor of fresh toquilla straw and sulfur-based\u00a0bleaching powder pounded into the hats by the weavers has become for my young\u00a0daughter \u201cthe Daddy smell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps it is not too late. Perhaps another generation, or two, or more,\u00a0will be able to know hats as breathtaking as the one that rekindles my passion\u00a0every time I see or hold it. The older weavers tell me that it is indeed a\u00a0beautiful hat, but, ahhhh, not as beautiful as they used to weave them forty or\u00a0fifty years ago.<\/p>\n
I cannot conceive of a hat\u2014made of straw, woven by the hand of\u00a0man\u2014more beautiful than this one. I hold it in my hands now, still in awe\u00a0of its maker. Before the ribbon and leather sweatband were added, it weighed\u00a0less than a letter on my stationery. I feel the brim between thumb and\u00a0forefinger. I\u2019ve turned book pages thicker than this. The weave itself\u00a0can barely be distinguished, even by sharp-eyed skeptics who scoff that no mere\u00a0hat could be worth more than a well-tailored suit. Perhaps not, if the suit\u00a0were woven by hand. In fact, the feel of the hat is more akin to cloth than to\u00a0straw. I have a pair of linen pants that are not as finely woven by half.<\/p>\n
It is unimaginable to me that this hat was crafted by human hands. With my\u00a0reading glasses on, and under a strong light, I admire row after row after row\u00a0after row of tiny, even, overlapping threads of straw. The color is that of\u00a0old, well-cared-for ivory. Hold it to the light and it glows, seemingly\u00a0translucent. It is truly a work of art.<\/p>\n
This incredibly exquisite hat has but one flaw. A serious flaw. A flaw I\u00a0cannot forgive. It is not my size.<\/p>\n
B. Brent Black<\/strong> – Honolulu, Hawaii<\/small><\/p>\n \n \n This was the first (and is still the only) large format \u201ccoffee\u00a0table\u201d book about Panama hats. Naturally, I was pleased and flattered to\u00a0be asked by the French publishers to write the Preface. The book was published\u00a0in French, English, and Spanish. It\u2019s a good book and is now out of\u00a0print. Used copies are sometimes available on eBay and Amazon.com.<\/p>\n When the publisher sent me a complimentary copy, I was distressed to\u00a0discover that the French editor had \u201ccorrected\u201d my English,\u00a0resulting in a few changed meanings, syntax and grammar errors. It looked, in\u00a0several places, as if it had been translated into French and then back into\u00a0English. In the version above, I have returned to my original text.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was tired. I had journeyed nearly 7,000 miles, from Honolulu\u00a0to a tiny town in Ecuador, for the privilege of viewing a genuine Montecristi\u00a0fino. As I weighed it in my hands, held it to the light to study the impossibly\u00a0fine weave, felt its suppleness between my fingers, and listened to an old\u00a0weaver lament the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":1050,"parent":27,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-169","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n