M.I. Hummel's 'Merry Wanderer' Wanders Home

The M.I. Hummel brand mascot, The Merry Wanderer, traveled from Rosemont, IL, to Pennington, NJ, where he took up residence on December 6, 2003, in front of the headquarters of Goebel of North America (GNA) and the M.I. Hummel Club. The eight-foot high Wanderer has been around since he was created in 1976 by Goebel master sculptor, Gerhard Skrobek. A copy (although one foot taller) of the version that stands outside the Goebel factory in Germany, the American Merry Wanderer's first posting was at the M.I. Hummel Club in Tarrytown, NY. In 1994, the mayor of Rosemont, Donald Stevens, who was also an avid Hummel figurine collector, convinced the company to send the 18-year-old Merry Wanderer west to the official M.I. Hummel Museum. Almost ten years later he has returned to the East Coast. He was greeted at a special ceremony attended by, among others, GNA president Rick Wasserman and M.I. Hummel Club manager Carrie Kulak. (The Club is also preparing a time capsule of letters, photos, news, special figurines, and items the 27-year-old organization wants to share with collectors at the club's 50th anniversary.) Following the ceremony, exercise guru and doll collector Richard Simmons kicked off the annual Goebel holiday warehouse sale.