Panama hat of the first towns to start weaving the hats in the Andes is Principal, part of the Chordeleg Canton in the Azuay province. Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th and early 20th century South American goods, were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas and Europe, subsequently acquiring a name that reflected their point of international sale—"panama hats"—rather than their place of domestic origin. The term was being used by at least 1834. The popularity of the hats increased in the mid-19th century when many
Adam Hats based in Dallas, Texas, where an old Adam Hats facility has been re-developed into residential property, still called the Adam Hats lofts. Dallas-based Miller Brothers Executive Benjamin Parrill became Adam Hats President in 1955. Parrill died in 2007. In the 1950s, Miller Brothers introduced miniature hat boxes with miniature hats. These novelty items were used as gift certificates, to be redeemed for a hat. In the movie "Cinderella Man" (2005), there is a quick camera shot depicting the front of Madison Square Garden in the 1930s, with an Adam Hats store next door to it. In the movie "Non-Stop New