The predecessors of the Amana Corporation emerged from the reform that the communistic
Amana Colonies underwent in the early 1930s. George C. Foerstner, a traveling salesman for the Amana woolen mill, saw that the 1933
repeal of Prohibition would lead to a need for beverage coolers. He started the Electric Equipment Company in 1934 using $3,500 of his own savings. The company was sold to the Amana Society in 1936 and renamed the Electrical Department of the Amana Society, though Foerstner remained as manager. Goods were produced in the Middle Amana woolen mill. In 1947, the company produced the first commercial upright
freezer for the home, in 1949 it added a side-by-side refrigerator. Around 1950, the Amana Society sold the Electrical Department to an investment group organized by Foerstner. Renamed
Amana Refrigeration, Inc., the company manufactured refrigerators, and then air conditioners starting in 1954. Amana was acquired in 1965 by
Raytheon, The company invented the
microwave oven in 1947, and introduced the commercial
Radarange Model 1611 in 1954. In 1967, Amana introduced a consumer model of the
Radarange, the first popular microwave designed for home use. In 1997, the company was purchased by
Goodman Global (now part of Daikin North America), a heating-and-cooling manufacturer which sold it to
Maytag (now part of Whirlpool) in 2002. ==References==