A tuneful, cheerful, jaunty sounding noun, both to say and wear, being the original name for the Panama hat, the palm tree from which it is made with dried, woven leaves, as well as a town in Ecuador, the country where such hats are originally made, and not, oddly, Panama – a handy fact to sport at any time. It’s a very useful accessory in any hot country where the sun relentless beats down, a timeless, stylish fashion piece. In Central and South America, Panama hat are correctly referred to as Jipijapa, Toquilla, or Montecristi hats, being where they are made – in Ecuador. The Panama name is a European origin, likely because of the export route. Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th- and early 20th-century South American goods, were originally shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas and Europe.
The palm tree of the same name is mor formally Carludovica palmata, commonly found on the Ecuadorian coast as well as neighbouring countries of the Andean mountain range.
Carludovica palmata. also known as Panama hat plant, toquilla palm, calá, palmilla, palmero, pojom, jiraca, junco, soyacal, tepejilote, and of course, jipijapa
The creation of toquilla or jipijpa hats as been a skilled cottage craft industry for centuries, long before the Spanish colonialist arrived in the 1600s. Here is an image of renowned Ecuadorian master weaver Cenovio at work. He has over 70 years of experience under his … well … hat.
But what about music associated with the accessory? Here’s a lively title by the Ecuador cumbias band Orquesta Unesum:
And let’s enjoy some contemporary street flavour music with the drumming group Teatro del Barrio "Los Inocencios" who are themselves based in Jipijapa:
Meanwhile here’s a jaunty traditional number which brings the jipipapa hat into its chorus, a popular item worn by all of the Spanish group Los Mentaos de la Manigua, here performing Maria Panchita:
Let’s now take the musical brim a little wider. Regularly sporting one himself, Bob Dylan couldn’t resist a mention of the hat in Black Diamond Bay from his landmark album Desire of 1976, in which he sings: "Watching old Cronkite on the seven o'clock news / It seems there was an earthquake that / Left nothing but a Panama hat / And a pair of old Greek shoes.”
There are many other songs featuring the Panama hat. Here’s a short selection featuring British band The Wave Pictures from their album Bamboo Diner in the Rain and using it as key detail in a song of teenage love; American-born blues singer and songwriter Eric Bibb who sings about breaking his new one in, and finally the veteran American singer-songwriter Michael Hurley, who was a key figure in the New York’s Greenwich Village alternative folk scene of the 1960s and 1970s.
So then, any more jipijpa-related music to put on? Feel free also to share anything more in relation to it, whether in music or wider culture, such as from film, art, or other contexts, in comments below.
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