Free Patterns

Many of the designs on old footstools, house blessings, mittens, pictures, pillows, couch coverings, and more were obtained from free patterns in German  magazines as HAUSFRAU, Almanacs, and other publications as newspapers. These patterns were in rich colors, black and white or gray prints. Some were laid out in square graphics for needlepoint, some for perforated paper, some for copper stencil printing on cloth, others for knitting or crochet. Some patterns were made for cross stitch and crewel. All designs were very much appreciated in a time when not much decoration was allowed. The results of these patterns were some very fine products.

Garden House or " Gardeheisel"

Each large garden in communal Amana  had a small, one room building called a "Gardeheisel" in German. It served as a storage shed for many handmade garden tools, a shady resting spot for the dreary garden workers and a break room for mid morning and afternoon snacks often the way in old Amana. There were many of these in the villages where there were community kitchens and large kitchen gardens. They were approximately 6 feet by 8 feet in size. Some still exist as historical structures, even if not in great condition.

Amana Lily Lake

One of most beautiful sites in the Amana Colonies is the Lily Lake especially in late July and early August when the American lotus is in full bloom covering the 170 acre half marsh, half lake area. It is located between Middle and Amana, drawing tourists for many years for site seeing, fishing, and recreation. It is about 2-3 feet deep. The lowland filled with water from thr Mill Race after a break in the 1870 levee.  The lilies may have been planted by the original settlers, the Mesqwakie, who harvested and ate the tubers and roasted the lily seeds.  In and around the lake are over 200 native plants and 7-8 kinds of animals call it their habiat.  The lake also served as a source of ice for Middle refrigerastion business before electricity and stored water to power turbines at the dam. Water was also stored for daily needs. Friend photos.

The Flour Mill

In the communal days of Amana before 1932, the Amana Society purchased anything deemed necessary  to run the Society efficiently such as raw wool, oil, starch, dyes, and such. Most of the grain was purchased from the outside for the flour mill, still standing in 1939. Cotton goods were purchased from the southern states and used in the calico printing process. Amana Society would also hire outside laborers to do industrial  and agricultural jobs.  Two flour mills, powered by the mill race in Amana, processed the community's  own small grains as well as those of neighboring farmers. Profits from these mills were used to purchase goods from outside the community. A 1923 fire destroyed the flour mill in Amana and the woolin mill causing great loss of capital. Below are some photos of the flour mill in West Amana.
                                  
                                  

CALICO PRINTING ROLLERS

In Amana, calico printing was done until 1916. One of the three processes used to print the fabric was roller printing, which took the place of the much slower hand block printing. The rollers were long, thin cylinders with steel pins making a repeat pattern to roll onto prepared fabric. A chemical resistant was coated over the pins of the roller that created the pattern on the white fabric. This acid prevented the dark indigo dye penetration in the resisted area. The opposite was also done in which large pieces of white fabric were dyed indigo, then a chemical resist rolled over it would bleach out the pattern areas to reveal white fabric stars, leaves, moons, or one of over 300 patterns. These methods are known as resist and discharge dyeing. The rollers are very rare and quite an interesting industrial artifact of the old Amana Druekeri or Print Mill. A wonderful gift from my husband can after his local antiquing excursion.

Antique Images of Amana Colonies: Heirloom Seed Bank of Amana

Antique Images of Amana Colonies: Heirloom Seed Bank of Amana: AMANA gardeners grew as much of their own harvested seed as possible. Some seeds were not available in USA catalogs so local varieties that...

Antique Images : Door Stencils

Antique Images : Door Stencils: The handmade locks placed on Amana doors were used throughout the villages, and often. Therefore, a unique smudge guard was designed to be p...

Door Stencils

The handmade locks placed on Amana doors were used throughout the villages, and often. Therefore, a unique smudge guard was designed to be painted around the lock to catch dirt and finger prints on the much used door. A cardboard template was placed around the lock, traced and then filled in with black paint.  This was as very ingenious way of catching dirt and cut down on daily cleaning of the door...a very unique solution and design.