Panama hat miners of the California Gold Rush traveled to California via the Isthmus of Panama and Pacific Mail Steamship Company. In 1906 , U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the construction site of the Panama Canal and was photographed wearing a Panama hat, which further increased the hats' popularity. Although the Panama hat continues to provide a livelihood for thousands of Ecuadorians, fewer than a dozen weavers capable of making the finest "Montecristi superfinos" remain. Production in Ecuador is dwindling, due to economic problems in Ecuador and competition from Chinese hat producers. The tamsui hat was a straw hat made in Formosa
Panama ingredients are maize, rice, wheat flour, plantains, "yuca" (cassava), beef, chicken, pork and seafood. Panamanian men's traditional clothing, called "montuno", consists of white cotton shirts, trousers and woven straw hats. The traditional women's clothing is the "pollera". It originated in Spain in the 16th century, and by the early 1800s it was typical in Panama, worn by female servants, especially wet nurses ("De Zarate" 5). Later, it was adopted by upper-class women. A "pollera" is made of "cambric" or "fine linen" (Baker 177). It is white, and is usually about 13 yards of material. The original "pollera" consists of a