Amana, Iowa

16 August  2013 

We left the state fair and traveled about 120 miles east to the Amana colonies.  Along the way, we stopped in Newton and took a short tour of the Maytag Dairy Farms. The dairy barn and caves are not available for tour, just the wrapping and shipping area, but there was a nice video giving the history of the Maytag dairy and showing the mostly handmade process for making the world famous Maytag blue cheese. Then it was on to the taste testing.  Several purchases later, we were on our way. I always thought that the Maytag blue cheese and Maytag appliances were all part of the same company, but it was clarified for us that the dairy farm started as a hobby farm by the son of the patriarch who started the appliance company. So there is a connection, just not as strong as I thought.  Also found out that the Anchor Steam beer company was started by the current Maytag generation. They didn’t have taste testing for the beer.

 

The campground we went to was a huge, mostly empty field so we had lots of privacy in the middle of cornfields.  Kind of cool to sit by our campfire in the middle of a field with no other human in sight.

 

The Amana colonies in Iowa were established in the middle 1800s by a German group which split off from the Lutheran Church in the 1700s.  Facing persecution in Europe for their beliefs, they immigrated initially to New York and when they outgrew their land, they moved to Iowa. They lived in community, which meant that no one individual owned land or drew a wage.  They were assigned to their jobs by the elders of the community, as well as assigned to homes. People ate at communal kitchens and attended eleven church services a week.  Children were punished for bad behavior by not being allowed to attend church.  Don’t think that would work today.

 

The sect purchased 26,000 acres and established seven villages.  They farmed and kept to themselves.  People get them confused with the Amish people, but there is no connection.  One major difference was that the Community of True Inspiration (what the people from the Amana colonies call their church) embraced technology.  In fact, the Amana appliances were developed by people from this sect.  This included the first frost free refrigerator and one of the first commercially available microwaves.

 

The communal nature of their lifestyle ended in 1932 and is known to the group as the “Great Change.” Our docent said there were many reasons for the abandonment of communal living, but he thought the major reasons was that the men wanted to play baseball, which the elders had banned, and the women wanted to wear the short, flippy haircuts. He cautioned the audience to not dismiss the power of popular culture in changing the world.

 

Each village has several little stores available to visit, and of course, to purchase things from. We visited a nice quilt store (of course), a general store which was really a gift shop, a meat market where we got some great ribeye steaks for dinner, a woolen mill, and an amazing furniture store.  The Historical Society put together a nice auto-tour CD which we used to get from one village to another. They are only a mile or 2 apart from each other and all can be visited in a 17 mile drive.

 

The area is beautiful, an Iowa river valley with pleasant hills and dales. Not sure how many people live here now (about 2000 people lived in the colonies at its peak), but the villages are well tended and look pretty prosperous.  The Amana appliance business was purchased by the Maytag appliance business in Newton, which in turn, was taken over by Whirlpool.  There remains a relatively large Whirlpool factory in one of the Amana colonies, employing about 3,000 people, making kitchen appliances.

 

Two days was enough time to leisurely visit the colonies and enjoy the quiet, peaceful country.  Quite a change from the high energy of the State Fair. Now it is on to more adventures as we travel east to Chicago.

 

This is the only cow remaining at the Maytag Dairy Farms.  They sold their herd many years ago and buy milk from the local farmers.

Our docent serving us cheese samples.  Besides the Maytag blue, we sampled Edam, Havarti and White Cheddar.  Yum!!

Several people told us we needed to try a Maidrite burger and when we found a place off the I-80 in the Amana area, we stopped for lunch. They serve their hamburger as loose meat (like taco meat without the taco seasoning).  Pretty tasty!

The main street in Amana village.

Inside the historical museum which used to be a house for the colonists.  The original houses are still in use, either as B&Bs, stores or private residences.

Each of the seven villages had their own granary.

This building is attached to the meat market.  Note the cattle shoot leading right into the building.  I tell you, meat was darn fresh at this store!

Each village had a farm complex with several barns that were 100 to 150 years old.

Once the "Great Change" happened in 1932 (no more communal living), the society embraced several outside influences.  One of the more positive ones was scouting.  The museum had several items on the troop they started.

The Amana colonists embraced technology in many forms including entertainment and kitchen efficiencies.

Children went year round to school until they were 14.  This is a spelling board.

 

Inside a very nice quilt shop in Amana.

This is one of the newer looms in the Woolen Mills. They make both wool and cotton blankets.

Some of the many beautiful clocks made by the Amana Furniture Shop.

This is a pond near one of the villages, just full of lotus lilies.

Each village has a cemetery.  People are buried in chronological order with the same headstone, emphasizing their beliefs that all colonists are equal and part of the same family.  The headstones contain name, death year and age at the time of death.

Apparently some of the colonists served in wars.  These stars are placed at graves of people who served during the Civil War.