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
Hats (album) distributed "Hats" in North America—took out a full-page advertisement in "Billboard" magazine offering a free copy of the CD to anyone who called a toll-free number which was provided. Three singles were released from the album: the first, "The Downtown Lights", was released in September 1989 and peaked at #67 in the UK singles charts, followed by "Headlights on the Parade" in September 1990 which reached #72, and "Saturday Night" in January 1991, which reached #50. In the United States, "Hats" peaked at #108 on the "Billboard" 200. "The Downtown Lights" reached #10 on the "Billboard" Hot Modern Rock Tracks