Amish quilt businesses have been directly tied to the increase in tourism to Amish settlements. Visitors have flocked to Amish settlements since the early twentieth century, although a true tourism industry did not emerge until after the construction of interstate highways in the 1950s. Part of the tourist experience has been the purchasing of souvenirs that serve as a reminder of visits to this seemingly simpler time and place; since the 1970s and 80s, quilts have been a popular souvenir. Quilt shops in large settlements like Lancaster in Pennsylvania or Holmes County in Ohio, and in small settlements scattered across the Midwest, have targeted tourists eager to take home a piece of Amish country.