The Amana Corporation is an American brand of household appliances. It was founded in 1934 by George Foerstner as The Electrical Equipment Co. in Middle Amana, Iowa to manufacture commercial walk-in coolers. The business was later owned by the Amana Society and became known as Amana Refrigeration, Inc..[1] It is now owned by Whirlpool Corporation.
In 1947, Amana manufactured the first upright freezer for the home, and in 1949 it added a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. In 1950, the company was sold to a group of investors including its founder, and became Amana Refrigeration, Inc.
In 1954, it began making air conditioners. Amana was acquired in 1965 by Raytheon, which had 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.
Amana has since expanded into manufacturing a variety of other appliances including furnaces, ovens, countertop ranges, dishwashers, and clothes washers and dryers.
In 1997 the company was purchased by Goodman Global, a heating-and-cooling manufacturer who sold it to Maytag (now part of Whirlpool) in 2002.[1] Goodman still owns Amana's air conditioners and heater division and Amana home appliances are now owned and manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation. It continues to be innovative, introducing curved fronts to its refrigerators in 2000.[1] and in 2009 collaborating with Thom Filicia on a series of colorful designs which debuted at the International Builders' Show in Las Vegas.[2]