Inside the last true political machine in America
What a town is like when one family runs everything
Egyptian pharaohs left the pyramids. Donald E. Stephens left a Museum of Hummels. These are porcelain dolls, based initially on paintings by Maria Hummel, a German nun. Stephens was, until his death in 2007, the mayor of Rosemont, Illinois. His collection of Hummels, which is on display in a strip mall, is apparently the world’s largest. It includes rare figurines of soldiers at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. The museum is a monument to kitsch, and to a dynasty.
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This article appeared in the Christmas Specials section of the print edition under the headline “Inside America’s last political machine”
Christmas Specials December 23rd 2023
- On safari in South Sudan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries
- Many Trump supporters believe God has chosen him to rule
- Global warming is changing wine (not yet for the worse)
- How five Ukrainian cities are coping, despite Putin’s war
- A tale of penguins and prejudice is a parable of modern America
- What the journey of a pair of shoes reveals about capitalism
- A short history of tractors in English
- Millions of Chinese are venturing to the beach for the first time
From the December 23rd 2023 edition
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