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 was the Adam Hats General Sales Manager. Abraham (Chippy) Levy was the Head Window Dresser in 1935. In the late 1940s, a successor to Levy was Irving Rubenstein. In the 1940s, the New York–based Adam Hats was a sponsor of radio broadcasts of boxing matches which were held at Madison Square Garden. The boxing matches were called by radio announcer Sam Taub. Adam Hats also sponsored a radio program, "The Strange Dr. Weird", on the Mutual Network from 1944 to 1945. Most of these programs, complete with the Adam Hats commercials, are archived. Adam Hats distributed a series of matchbook