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Bolivia, Tupiza
The image of "cholitas", the Bolivian women wearing long braids and a bowler hat balanced on his head, is familiar.
In 1849, upon request of the British army, the Bowler brothers invented a small round felt hat. The aim was to protect the head of gamekeepers from lower branches when they were in the forests of the kingdom. The hat was found in the luggage of British engineers when they went to build the railroad in Bolivia. Legend says that a trader selling at lost to the Bolivian men, proposed those hats to Bolivians women, assuring them that the bowler hat would bring them great fertility. This is how the "Bombín", colonial accessory, has become integrated in the culture of the country.