‘Colón Man’ and the Legacies of a Link

The term ‘Colón Man’ is the general name given to men who emigrated to Panama in the 1800s in search of work opportunities on the canal. Colón is the name of a town on the Atlantic end of the canal and was the main port of call for ships from the West Indies. Today the term lives on in the folk song ‘Colón Man:’

One, two, three, four, Colón man a come

(Repeat twice)

Wid ‘im brass chain a lick him belly bam, bam, bam.

Ask him what di time is, Him look up pon di sun

(Repeat twice)

Wid ‘im brass chain a lick him belly bam, bam, bam.

Zoot suit, eye glass, ‘Merican a come

(Repeat twice)

Wid ‘im brass chain a lick him belly bam, bam, bam.

So faas him leave di Island, so quickly him come back

(Repeat twice)

Wid ‘im brass chain a lick him belly bam, bam, bam.

Rayfield McGhee in a Zoot Suit

Source: State Library and Archives of Florida

The returning migrants were often ridiculed because of their “flashy” attire; although he has a watch and chain, when "you ask him what di time is, him look up pon de sun". Adorned with gold chains, watches, “gold teeth, umbrellas, gold capped walking stick and actual gold coins...”  

“He had a style of walking (called after 1904 ‘the Yankee strut’), of talking (the Yankee twang’ salted with Spanish words and phrases), of dressing and most important, of behavior ” (Senior).

According to Senior, the travel to Panama during the American phase of construction also helped to generate an American influence on the Jamaican society; American values, commodities, speech patterns and gestures.