Exhibit Opening & Reception – Bringing To Light: The Amana Printing Tradition as 19th & 20th Century Agribusiness: Thursday, August 17

Join us at the Communal Kitchen & Cooper shop out in the Printing and Book Binding Exhibit for a special Night at the Museum! We will celebrate the hard work of our summer intern, Jen! She will be completing the set up of the Historic Working Print Shop & Bindery and will have interpreted the specimen books rom the Amana Print Shop 1870-1932. These specimen books highlight the huge amount of products manufactured and sold in the Amana Colonies and the wide range of advertisements and prints that were created here.

Drinks and snacks will be provided and this is a free event. Night at the Museum will take place from 5pm-7pm; there is no cost to attend and museum admission during Night at the Museum is free!

The Printing and Book Bindery Exhibit is located at the Communal Kitchen Museum: 1003 26th Avenue, Middle Amana.

Bringing To Light: The Amana Printing Tradition as 19th & 20th Century Agribusiness

Join us from 4pm to 7pm on Thursday, August 17th at the Communal Kitchen Museum’s historic print shop to enjoy a new exhibit and interpretation of how communal Amana used the print shop to advertise the many products it produced locally and sold. Amana established markets outside of the Amana for its Ag products and was also a dealer for many products used in the Amanas and sold to area farmers. Jen Miller, MFA student at the University of Iowa Center for the Book, will be on hand to visit with you about this latest research. We will show templates for the permanent exhibits that will share information about the soap works, pharmaceuticals, starch, honey, livestock, pickled products, etc. Light refreshments will be available until we run out.

Support for this project and the historic print shop & book bindery is provided by Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA), the Amana Community Chest, and the Iowa County Community Foundation, an Affiliate of the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, and the Iowa Arts Council.