Indigo Blue Calico

Indigo blue calico, my favorite fabric, was printed in Amana from 1861-1917, 4500 yards a day in its prime. Amana Calico was produced from the 1860’s until WWI when imports from Germany, which included the dyes needed for producing the cotton goods, were shut down. The last shipment of dye in 1916 kept the mills running for about a year, but once the supply was gone, the mills permanently closed. At the height of calico production in 1891, approximately 4000 -4500 yards of calico were printed each day. The mill or "print works" was located on the site of the present Amana Furniture Shop, the smallest brick building to the west being part of the original factory that employed 30 workers. The waterpower from nearby Price Creek was used to power the printworks mill. Designs were random geometric, floral, borders, and repeated stripes with about 500 patterns documented. The fabrics were used for summer work clothes, upholstery, curtains, quilts, etc. Many families dressed alike in this fabric. Calico patterns were printed with hand carved blocks, paste and acid resist rollers, and discharge print blocks.  Dyes were special indigo plant dyes, when exposed to the air would oxidize and turn yellow-green to indigo.  These dyes were not fast in  the early days so would often leave residue on the pine benches and hands, only to be bleached clean later. The Print Works mill closed in 1917 due to the lack of imported  dyes and supplies at the onset of WWI. The last  shipment of indigo dye, processed and imported from Germany, was brought on a submarine that slipped through a net of British destroyers to complete a harrowing voyage from Bremenhaven to Baltimore. This submarine, it is said, may have carried a special envoy from Germany to Washinton D.C. to appeal to the USA not to enter WW1. But they did, so all dye and goods shipments ceased. The story of the sub and crew spread to the USA and quickly as it carried goods for Amana, Iowa, a German settlement. So naturally this kept people away from Amana as anti German feeing was at a high. Despite all this the printworks still provided a means to sustain the early Amana community. The printed fabric sold for a reasonable price and allowed working women to afford new and beautiful calico cloth for clothing, a treasure in life for most 19th century women. Today the German influenced, indigo calico dyed fabric, which is very rare and rich as ever,  is much appreciated by viewers and collectors.  

The Bockwurst

One of the early signs of spring in the Amana Colonies is the making of the Bockwurst at the Amana Meat Market. It is an award winning sausage that some refer to as Easter Sausage as it is only available during Lenten season up to Easter. 

Bockwurst is a German sausage first mentioned in 1827 in Bavaria area of Germany.  An urban legend in Berlin claims that it was invented in 1889 by restaurant owner R. Scholtz of Berlin. It is one of the most popular varieties of delicious sausages in Germany, a source of much national pride and now found in many areas of the USA. Traditionally made of finely ground pork, veal, spices, and love, the Bockwurst is unlike the Bratwurst in that it contains a higher ratio of veal in its recipe. There are many variations of it in Germany but usually served with the spring release of dark Bock beer.  So good...

Since 1856 Bockwurst has been made in the Amana Colonies using an award winning recipe that includes pork sausage, ground spices, and fresh green chives from garden beds. It is sold at the Amana Meat shop by the pound. 

A traditional family German Bockwurst recipe is as follows:

400 g pork butter, trimmed

100 g back fat

100 g pork belly

18 g kosher salt

6 g onion powder

3 g white pepper

2 g sweet paprika

.5 g ginger

1 g nutmeg

1g whole coriander

1 g celery seed

1 tsp lemon zest

1 egg

100 ml whole milk

Grind all the meats, add egg, milk, spices into a food processor 30 sec. Stuff meat into standard 28-32 mm hog casings forming 4" links. Refrigerate up to 3 days, freeze 3 months. 

This recipe is for 2.2 lbs or 7 links but you can easily scale to suit your needs. Recipe can be doubled. Guten Apetit and Brost!

photos by friends

Amana Church Cookie Walk

One of the highlights of the annual Prelude to Christmas celebration in the Amana Colonies the first weekend in December is the Church Society's Cookie Walk, hosted since 1991. If you like sweets this walk is for you!

Traditionally, cookies were a big hit at Christmastime everywhere especially in the Amanas, a German community. Christmas and Easter were the only times the Amana housewives baked cookies so they made lots and lots. Since there were no ovens in the homes all the cookie ingredients were premixed at home and the full bowls were then taken to the local bakery to be baked. This lasted all afternoon till dozens and dozens of many kinds of cookies were baked. Each family had an assigned time on a December afternoon to bake their creations. This baking lasted over  2-3 weeks in December. Fudge and candies were also made.

As in Germany, the Lebkuchen was most popular Christmas  cookie. These were chewy honey cookies  with hickory or walnuts, whiskey or citron added depending on the family's tradition.  Free honey came from local apiaries as all versions needed  two cups of honey to make this a long lasting cookie! After 1932 when the communal system ended, bakers had ovens in their own homes to bake cookies in their own kitchens.

To help celebrate this enthusiasm for Christmas cooking baking,  local Church members now bake  and make candies for the annual Amana Church Cookie Walk. Over 15,000 cookies baked by some 80 bakers, are arranged beautifully for shoppers to buy starting at noon after reserving a spot in the morning. Shoppers fill their own box, holding 4-5 dozen lovely cookies, for about 25.00. This popular event is well attended and sells out in about 3 hours. It benefits the Church's Sunday School and youth programs.

This year (2021) a Cookie Walk book was published, entitled Christmas Cookie Walk Favorites.  100 recipes are shared in the little book, each by an Amana Colonies baker and each with its own story.  It is available at the local General Store, Amana Arts Guild, the High Amana Store, and the Heritage Museum of Amana History.

ALMOND APRICOT CHEWIES

2 CUPS SLIVERED ALMONDS

4 CUPS FINELY CHOPPED DRIED APPRICOTS

4 CUPS FLAKED SWEETENED COCONUT

1-14 OUNCE  CAN SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK

3 TABLESPOONS FINELY CHOPPED PECANS

TOAST SLMONDS: Place almonds in a dry. Nonstick skillet and vook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until nuts are lightly browned.

Combine toasted almonds, chopped apricots. Coconut and condensed milk.

Chill at least 2 hours

Shape dough into 1-inch diameter balls. Place in smaller or miniature foil candy liners. Top with a sprinkle of finely chopped pecans.  Yield: 6 dozen

A Loaf of Hahn Bread

In the communal era of the Amana Colonies, there were bakeries in each village to supply the communal kitchens for the many meals they served to the villagers and workers. 

One such bakery was The Hahn bakery that still exists today since 1927, with much of the same equipment such as the brick hearth oven.

Hahn bread is popular in the colonies and with the tourists. 140 loaves are turned out for the day beginning at midnight when the oven is heated for two hours. In the meantime, the dough is prepared, once done by hand, now by machine.

The brick hearth oven is also modernized run with propane gas instead of wood fire.  After two hours the heat is turned off, leaving heat from the hot bricks to bake the bread.  The dough which was once from large West and Amana grist mills is now made of flour from Wisconsin and has no preservatives. The 30 pounds of dough made for the day is for white, wheat, and rye bread. A sweet dough is made for coffee cakes (filled or unfilled) and cinnamon rolls. All dough is cut and mixed (until 1961) by hand after it rises an hour. Five batches are made on Friday nights for Saturday morning. Success in the dough comes from the lukewarm milk to keep the yeast alive. These original German recipes and techniques are still used as in 1927 bakery in the 1864 house. My friend and I had a great experience with Jack Hahn filling pans with dough, preparing for a busy Oktoberfest weekend in the 70's.  The raspberry, apricot and cinnamon coffee cakes, white and rye bread were favorites of many that must be bought early before it sells out!

Amana Colony Recipes Cookbook

The Homestead Welfare Club founded about 1919, published this popular cookbook in 1948-49 to help preserve recipes used in the communal kitchens before 1932. It was based on hardy, family style recipes to serve 30- 40 people but later revised to serve families of four. The recipes are of a wide variety-everyday, holiday,and those inspired by The Orient, rich in spices, fruit and nuts, as well as dishes from the ancestors in Europe. All were designed to take full advantage of present day Iowa harvests. Menus for the summer and winter season, special occasions, and evening meals are also shared in the book.
The illustrations represent scenes from old community kitchens, the brick hearth, the long, wooden sink,  large cooking pots, and baskets in which food was carried home.  The cover depicts old indigo Amana blue cotton prints, used for everyday dresses and aprons, that was resist dyed in the woolen mills.
 The cookbook funds helped pave streets and set up sewer systems in Homestead. It was a very popular cookbook compiled by the club volunteers. It has been reprinted many times  and still sold today. Look for it in local Antique Shops and general stores. The club will be celebrating its 100 year anniversary this year, 2019.

Labels

The first known labels showed up around 1700 as seen on small medical containers and wine bottles. Wooden presses were used to make the paper labels that were then glued to products. In 1798 the process changed with onset of lithography. From 1850 to 1860 color printing improved to make creative labels selling products better. In 1935 the self adhesive labels changed the industry even more. In the 1960's new adhesives did even more advancement in the industry. In the 70's electronic labels made it possible to hold lots of information on the labels with the bar code.
Amana labels and logos have changed with the times and over the years while symbolizing " core Amana values, growth, and longevity" and dedication to the craft. Many early products from calico fabric to refrigerators proudly donned the Amana label.

AHS and Schulte photos

The Tin Colander

The colander was a very important tool handmade  by the  local  Amana tinsmith.  It was used extensively  in the old Amana communal kitchens to handle large quanties of food that needed to be drained. The large, bowl shaped  utensil had holes on the bottom, usually in a star or flower pattern, a base, and handles, all hand applied. The perforated bottom  allowed  liquid  to  drain through while retaining the solids as vegetables and fruits inside. This was one tool that made all the difference  in old Amana communal kitchens while prepping  food. The large size made it very useful and appealing.  The Colanders were sometimes called sieves from the Latin word colum meaning sieve.