The Galaxy Cauldron
These Forums are an ARCHIVE! Please check out our Discord as we are active on there! ♥️

HomePortalLatest imagesRegisterLog in
Navigation



Navigation

Get Help!
Forum Index
Portal Page
Today's Topics
Watched Stuff
Calendar
Search Forum
Member Roster
Helpful Links
Forum Rules
Avi/Sig Rules
Chat Rules
Guide to RP
Forum Staff
Member Ranks
OSA-P Shop Info
Club Directory

Connect with GC
Tumblr Facebook Twitter Instagram Become a member today for link!
User Control Panel
Your profile
Information Preference Signature Avatar
Social
Friends and Foes Memberlist Groups
Private messages
Inbox PM sent

Share | 
 

 The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa

View previous topic View next topic Go down 
AuthorMessage
mysteryloveandjustice
Lotus Crystal

mysteryloveandjustice

Lotus Crystal

Title : GC's Official Seiya/Sailor Star Fighter <3
Posts : 2849
Join date : 2012-09-25
Age : 29
Location : Amidst the ancient pines


The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Empty
PostSubject: The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa   The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa I_icon_minitime22nd April 2014, 10:33 am

The Amana Colonies

The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa IMG_6359

"The Amana Colonies are seven villages on 26,000 acres (11,000 ha) in east-central Iowa, United States: Amana (or Main Amana),East Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, South Amana, West Amana, and Homestead. The villages were built and settled by German Pietists, who were persecuted in their homeland by the German state government and the Lutheran Church. Calling themselves the Community of True Inspiration (German: die Gemeinde der wahren Inspiration), they first settled in New York near Buffalo in what is now the Town of West Seneca. However, seeking more isolated surroundings, they moved to Iowa (near present-day Iowa City) in 1856. They lived a communal life until the mid-1930s.
For eighty years, the Amana Colonies maintained an almost completely self-sufficient local economy, importing very little from the industrializing American economy. The Amanians were able to achieve this independence and lifestyle by adhering to the specialized crafting and farming occupations that they had brought with them from Europe. Craftsmen passed their skills and techniques on from one generation to the next. They used hand, horse, wind, and water power, and made their own furniture, clothes, and other goods. The community voted to form a for-profit organization during the Great Depression, the Amana Society, which included the Amana Coporation.
Today, Amana is a tourist attraction known for its restaurants and craft shops. The colonies were listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1965." (taken from Wikipedia)

I've always liked the Amana Colonies. The people there are simple and very nice, and they do a lot of cool things. There's a clothing factory in Main Amana where they make all the clothing that's sold in the colonies, there's a brewery where they make some REALLY good beer (according to my dad lol) called Millstream, they make all their own brooms and toys and anything else you could think of really. Everything they use they make themselves. When you drive into one of the colonies it's like entering a world completely different from the one you're used to. 

The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Colony-inn-restaurant-382-lghtbx

This is my favorite place to eat there. They serve everything family style which just means it comes in big bowls and plates that gets shared with everyone, and it's mainly German food. They have bratwurst, wiener schnitzel, kassler rippchen, saurebraten, and a lot of other really good German meals. And for a side they have speazel which is the REALLY GOOD eggy pasta stuff that is really simple to make and I'll actually have the recipe for it available in the Food thread Smile

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Amish Communities Of Iowa

The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa 27500549

Wikipedia History of the Amish:


In a nutshell, the Amish are communities of people that live without any technology or electricity or anything that basically makes our lives a lot easier. They live like people did back in colonial times and they are all very traditional Christians. 

The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa 300px-Lancaster_County_Amish_03

Because Amish shy away from modern technology, they use horses and buggys for transportation. 

The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Photo

This is typical Amish clothing. They like to keep it simple, but also reserved since they are Christians. 

The reason I bring up the Amish is that we have a couple Amish communities in Iowa, the biggest settlement being in Kalona. My family and I would always go to Kalona to purchase stuff from them because even though they do things the old fashioned way, everything they make is really really good quality. My mom used to go there to get pies and ingredients for pies, and we even bought a corn stove (like a regular wood stove but it burns on corn and pellets) from them and it lasted us for years and years. 

The grocery stores in Kalona aren't like normal ones. Everything you can buy there you buy in bulk, and you can get it for a pretty good price. Since they don't use a bunch of machines or hire a bunch of people to make what they sell, usually the prices are pretty low since it's only labor and the materials you're paying for. And typically whatever you buy is going to be very high quality too. 

The Amish are more widely known for their talent with furniture. Everything they make is 100% wood, usually without plastic or laminate. They have a very simplistic and traditional style to what they make, mainly focusing on the use of the product. Amish furniture is in very high demand in Iowa because of how good it is. 

Examples of Amish Furniture:
Back to top Go down
Batgirl
Lotus Crystal

Batgirl

Lotus Crystal

Title : Batgirl, Batgirl, watcha gonna do?~Dubbed Sailor Potassium Monkey~
Posts : 4660
Join date : 2013-11-23
Age : 28
Location : South Korea


The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Empty
PostSubject: Re: The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa   The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa I_icon_minitime22nd April 2014, 11:12 am

I would love to visit Iowa one time; I really like the Amish lifestyle and culture.  The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa 2422052349
Back to top Go down
http://theofficialbatgirl.tumblr.com http://theofficialbatgirl.tumblr.com/
Hikari-chan
Lotus Crystal

Hikari-chan

Lotus Crystal

Title : Honestly, I’ve never fit in with the world. I was always alone.
Posts : 8662
Join date : 2013-05-26
Age : 33

The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Empty
PostSubject: Re: The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa   The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa I_icon_minitime22nd April 2014, 2:05 pm

i would love to visit the amana colonies. I love the little places to eat that are family style- such a great atmosphere- thanks for sharing mystery Smile
Back to top Go down
http://bigbangvipfangirl.tumblr.com/ http://mizzmoon.tumblr.com/
SenshiRei
Lotus Crystal

SenshiRei

Lotus Crystal

Title : ❤ Official Rei Hino of GC ❤
Posts : 3685
Join date : 2013-07-25
Age : 35
Location : My heart is in America


The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Empty
PostSubject: Re: The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa   The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa I_icon_minitime26th April 2014, 7:59 am

Wow this is so interesting. I kind of didn't realise people like that still existed. This is so ignorant, but do they mix with 'outsiders' i.e. you? I mean, you buy from them, so.... Also, what do they do about schooling?
Back to top Go down
Http://senshirei.tumblr.com http://senshirei.tumblr.com
mysteryloveandjustice
Lotus Crystal

mysteryloveandjustice

Lotus Crystal

Title : GC's Official Seiya/Sailor Star Fighter <3
Posts : 2849
Join date : 2012-09-25
Age : 29
Location : Amidst the ancient pines


The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Empty
PostSubject: Re: The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa   The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa I_icon_minitime26th April 2014, 10:31 am

The Colonials of the Amana Colonies mingle with modern people since those towns have become more of like a "living history" kind of place rather than an Amish community xD But the Amish, aside from selling their products to us, really don't have any contact with modern people because they don't want their children being temped to leave their Amish homes behind in favor of modern society xD 

They actually have a tradition where they let their children leave the community when they're 18 years old so that they can decide for themselves whether or not to leave the community permanently or stay with them permanently. If they leave, they can't come back and if they stay, they can't ever leave. Since there's so much angst for the young teens when it comes to this decision, there was actually a TV show made called "Breaking Amish" where it followed various Amish teens from around the country while they went out into the world and got their experience with making their decision on camera. It was pretty popular while it lasted xD

As far as schooling goes, I know the Amish home school their children. And the alternative to that is like this private kind of school that's in some of the communities where they teach the kids the traditions and teachings of the Amish community. 

But the colonials I'm not too sure about, I think they home school their children but since they're not nearly as set apart from modern society as the Amish are I'm not sure if they home school or just send them to regular public school xD
Back to top Go down
Sponsored content




The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa Empty
PostSubject: Re: The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa   The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa I_icon_minitime

Back to top Go down
 

The Amana Colonies and Amish Communities of Iowa

View previous topic View next topic Back to top 

 Similar topics

-
» Welcome to Iowa!!
» Food of Iowa!
Page 1 of 1

Permissions in this forum:You cannot reply to topics in this forum
The Galaxy Cauldron :: The Event Hall :: Celebration Threads Archives :: World Fair Archive-