We read about the Oneida Community,
which evolved into a silverware company. It’s not the only intentional
community, or utopia, that morphed into a successful consumer goods
company. the Amana settlement in Iowa began as a separatist religious
commune, but ended up in your kitchen.
If Amana sounds
familiar it may be because it’s the name of your fridge or microwave.
Although the Germanic religious group embraced separatism and outdated
fashions in a similar way to the Amish, the Amana Society has always had
a comfortable relationship with technology.
In 1855, the Amana
Colonies were founded by a Pietistic German religious sect called the
Community of True Inspiration. The founders were communal pacifists
attracted to America for its religious freedom and to Iowa for its
fertile soil. This soil was made available by earlier treaties designed
to drive out the Meskwaki Nation to make room for white settlers.
Ellie
Gordon-Moershel came from a family of Amana settlers, but didn’t
connect the family’s appliances with the traditional religious sect her
mother grew up in for many years. Now she tells us
the story of Amana, both the sect and the company, at Atlas Obscura.
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