#ProjectAlaska: The Amana Colonies

How many times have I passed The Amana Colonies in Iowa and not gone there to see them? To be honest, I haven't actually counted; but I can say for sure that it has been AT LEAST 15 times. This year I decided that it was time to finally explore this landmark that I have passed so many times. What initially attracted me was the history of these small towns; plus, who hasn't heard of Amana appliances? Amana Appliances was started in 1934 in Middle Amana under the name The Electrical Equipment Co. and was founded to manufacture commercial walk-in coolers. What I discovered was that the towns all feature different buildings and offerings, but that art is a big presence here. As such, I took quite a number of pictures. I began with the architecture of the buildings and then other items such as flowers, gifts, and artwork caught my eye. Due to the number of pictures, I will divide this up into separate posts.

The day got started bright and early just like the rest of them:

As I neared the Colonies, I came upon this real working phone booth! Surprisingly, phone booths are still popular in Canada; but very few phone booths are still around today in the US.