For 29 years Milton Johnson's Santa Fe, New Mexico shop, Montecristi Custom Hat Works, has been the world's premier purveyor of custom Panama hats. During a recent trip to New York, Johnson exclusively debuted to Trump Magazine an unparalleled collection of 24 vintage, unblocked Panama hats. Editorial Director Aaron Sigmund, a chapeau devotee himself, sat down with Johnson to discuss how they really don't make them like they used to and what Johnson plans to do to fix that fact.

Trump Magazine: Let's get straight to it - tell me about this magnificent hat collection and what makes it so special.
Milton Johnson: I received this collection from the son of a wayward missionary, who selected me from several other people who work with Panamas as the guardian of these 24 hats, which are all 30 years old, perhaps more, and Extrafino to Superfino quality. All of them are initialed by Nestor Franco, who is the son of Papa Juan Franco, a master weaver whose shop finished all of the Superfino hats (of this collection.) What these hats represent is the legacy of a past golden era. Do you remember Connoisseur Magazine?
TM: Nope.
MJ: Well, one of their cover stories was "The Perfect Panama." I don't believe that any such thing exists, but these 24 hats that we have are as close to perfection as the world is ever going to see.
TM: Where and how were these hats kept for all these years? Why are they so well preserved?
MJ: Paul Lozuk, the missionary's son, worked in South America for many years. During that time he befriended the Juan Franco family. Back then, Montecristi still had dirt streets, they were drinking water carried in wooden barrels, nobody had a car, there were outhouses out back - that was it. Paul worked with these people and they paid him in hats. Paul lives in Corpus Christi, TX., which has a very humid climate and these hats have been "living" in this closet for approximately thirty years. It's not unusual for someone to call me and say they have this great Panama that belonged to their granddad and they think they're going to get rich because they read on the web that the best Panamas go for $20,000 and up - but that rarely pans out. I was somewhat skeptical (when he called) but I said, "Of course, I'm very interested." He walked in the door of my store in Santa Fe holding his shoes, a color photograph of Papa Juan Franco and a bag of hats. When I opened the bag I was speechless. I feel like I've been entrusted with this legacy (of an industry) that I've been involved in for 32 years. We're almost like a family.
TM: So you're going to sell the 24 hats?
MJ: I hope to sell the 24 hats individually.
TM: Why individually?
MJ: It's such a treasure. I would like to see it spread out. Also, we are going to donate 25% of the gross sales of these hats to fund a non-profit (organization) which will create a museum in Montecristi, where we hope to have an exhibition of people in residence weaving and finishing hats. It's my hope that the foundation will be able to help these people reclaim a skill that they have lost.
TM: What do you estimate the value of the collection to be?
MJ: For something this rare and this treasured for the people who are familiar with the legend of the Panama hats, it's not a lot of money. I assume that this entire collection is worth about $500,000.
TM: How can people purchase a hat from this collection?
MJ: If they want to come to Santa Fe, I'll arrange for them to stay in one of our finer hotels for a couple of days or I will fly anywhere in the United States to fit them personally.