Life by Chocolate

Chocolate, white, milk, dark, in all its forms forms life. Chocolate truffles, caramels, and other confections are at the core of enjoyment. This is life by chocolate because death by chocolate is the wrong attitude.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Panama Hats



I don't know about you but I've always wanted a Panama Hat. I found a great forum called The Fedora Lounge and from there I found my way to Panama Bob's run by Robert Weber and his wife.

Making Panama Hats is very time consuming and very difficult process. And they are not made in Panama but rather in Ecuador. They were sold to the US from Panama and so the name Panama Hat stuck. Perhaps Robert should rename the site Ecuador Bob's? Nah, doesn't have the ring to it that Panama Bob's has.

After talking to Robert for awhile, I decided on getting a Cuenca Diamante and I also got Montecristi Cuencano which looks a lot like a Havana but has a little tear drop push up in the crow, thus saving my head from getting swished.


My hat is the one in the upper left corner in the picture above. That's the Diamante.



And this is my other hat, the Cuencano, which means from Cuenca, even though this is a Montecristi hat, from Montecristi, Ecuador. The little tear drop push up is going to gave me a lot of wear and tear on my hair, or so at least Robert thinks. This looks almost exactly like a Havana style hat.



This is the Havana style Panama Hat. Notice that there is no teardrop so the theory is that that indentation will hit your head. I haven't had any problems with my Cattlemen Western hat. Those of you that are friends with me on Facebook have seen pictures of it or you can just look at previous posts. I was wearing it on the 4th. And it seems to me that my Western hat has a much bigger crown.

The Cuencano is blocked in Equador. I bought these two styles because they were in stock, had my size and they were very nice looking hats. I'm jazzed about getting them and I expect that I'll get them on Monday and I can hardly wait. As soon as my hats come in, I'll take pictures of me in the hat and post them on this blog. I can hardly wait. I'm very excited. This is going to be epic. Robert says that these two hats will blow away anything I have in my collection. And to think, these aren't the top of the line. Well, now I know what I want for Christmas next year. (These are counted as my Christmas and Birthday Presents.) Now all I need is a white linen suit and Tattoo, to make all your fantasies come true.

Unfortunately, Hervé Villechaize is not available for the role of Tattoo, so I'll be talking applications. As many of you know, I lived and studied in Colombia and I have also visited Ecuador extensively. I've even climbed Cotopaxi. Afterwards, I had altitude sickness. It may not look high in the picture below but you Quito is already 9,350 feet above sea level. (So, I know what I'm doing when it comes to running Fantasy Island. Yeah, I'm ready for another Fantasy Island Throw Down!)


Cotopaxi

On a more upbeat note, we just finished enrobing our beautiful Banana Saffron Caramels, not an easy thing to do in the summer. Hurry before they are all gone.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

My personal experience with PANAMA BOB was unpleasant, big delays,i ordered a Cuenca hat suppose to take 6 weeks and end up to have it in 18 weeks. Robert Weber have no lack of been a professional seller not to mention his treatment to me as customer was rude unprofessional and arrogant. I was willing to buy the second hat but no more for me PANAMA BOB. Spend little more money and treat your self good to other vendor. Read clear the terms in panama bob website http://panamas.biz and you will find his contract terms are misleading to be in his advantage. Horrible business practice.I will say skip it but if you want to gamble your money and your order to be uncertain than Good luck with Panama Bob

June 15, 2013 at 1:09 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I am sorry to hear that. I think that everyone has a tale like that about every Panama Hat dealer. I've heard it about all of them. Robert got me my hats very quickly and cheaply. I got them on sale.

I recently asked him to find me a boater but he said it was hard. It did take awhile for him to get back to me and he said he would do his best. I'm not in any rush. We'll see. If I see a good quality one for a decent price, I will buy it.

Robert is a school teacher and so only runs the business full speed during the summer. That is what I understood. Plus getting them from Ecuador must be a bit of a challenge.

I think all of the Panama Hat sellers have the same supply issue. I'm happy with my three hats. I bought two and he threw on in for free. I have both Cuencas and Monticristis.

I'll be going back to him.

June 15, 2013 at 4:28 PM  
Anonymous Robert Weber said...

This is Panama Bob. Linda Harris' hat is one week late. I'm very sorry.

June 16, 2013 at 12:11 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Given the nature of the business, importing all the way from Ecuador, I think, Panama Bob, that you did well. I mean, what's a week when you think about it. You do say on your website it may take up to 8 weeks.

I've lived in Mexico, Colombia and in Ecuador. 1 week late is considered on time in Mexico. LOL. Thanks for the comment. I'll be coming back to buy more hats. Still looking for that boater, Robert. I love the hats I bought from you. Thanks.

June 16, 2013 at 5:33 PM  
Blogger Mark by Chocolate said...

I did find a boater. I hope you're still selling hats, Robert, as I need some new ones. PanamaBob is the best.

December 27, 2014 at 1:03 PM  

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