The Amanas Yesterday

Gradual change from a communal way of life with strong respect for tradition. People were rarely alone in the old Amanas. Historic photographs. Amana Colonies are located in middle eastern Iowa. Though time took its toll on the communal life in the Amana Colonies, the spirit of strength and sincerity continues as a legacy to the new era in these seven villages in Iowa. The photograph at the end of the book conveys the spirit and sincerity imbued by this heritage. Children are pictured walking in the Schulwald (school woods, so named because the trees were planted by school pupils) pine forest. "The trees became tall and erect, and they whispered in the wind, and walking beneath their lacy boughs became one of the soft delights of communal Amana." The trees of the Schulwald were felled for lumber, at the request of the United States Government during World War II, but the visual impressions and historic testimony of a people's heritage are preserved in The Amanas Yesterday. Today, the Amana Colonies are Iowa's largest tourist attraction with more than a million visitors annually. Visitors find a heritage preserved in the museums, former communal kitchens and living quarters, furniture factories, woolen mill, family-style restaurants, unique stores and shops, traditional meat processing plants and bakeries, wineries, industriously farmed land and a major industry in the nationally successful Amana Refrigeration Plant. Paperback, 8 1/2 x 11", 48 pages. ISBN 09-60385-88-6 ISBN-13: 9780960385881