Cuenca Panama Hat Factory
Last updated: Cuenca, 11 Jan 2009(click on an image to enlarge)
 

These are some old molds they
used to make the hats.
These are some of the new molds.
Weaving the straw to make
the basic form.

One of the machines they use to form the hats. It applies pressure and heat to the material placed in the molds.
Here are some even older molds.
They used to use these mallets to smooth out the material.

An old sewing machine used to make the brim of the higher grade hats.
Another old sewing machine.
In process.

More.
And more.
Ready for sale. They start at $15-$20 for the standard grade. "Fino" grade was a little over $100. "Ultra fino" (the highest grade) was several hundred dollars.