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) to Buchanan, "we knew exactly what we were doing. We actually recorded the rest of "Hats" super quick ... Honestly, half of "Hats" was, like, a week." In a 2012 interview with ClashMusic.com, Buchanan reflected on the time lost trying to make the album: The album was released in October 1989 simultaneously in both the UK and the US: since The Blue Nile was essentially unknown in the United States in 1989, the cover artwork for the US release of "Hats" was slightly modified for marketing reasons, with the band's name in larger letters. As a promotional tool, A&M Records—who