Brazil, Indiana

Old postcard found by Postcardy blog

Jimmy Hoffa, the trade union leader that mysteriously disappeared in the mid-seventies, was born in Brazil – which has less than 8,000 inhabitants, 97% White. Brazil is ruled by Emperor Brad Gates, despite his name, a Democrat. Local families are quite rich, have a median income of $37,569, thanks to a bunch of small mechanical industries.

This is not a parallel universe – Hoffa was really born in Brazil, a tiny town in the state of Indiana, in the American Midwest. In the 1840s, the owners of the farm that originated the city decided to adopt the name of a country that was frequently mentioned by local newspapers (God knows why).

One of the few things in Brazil, Indiana that might remind you of the South American country is Chafariz dos Contos, a fountain donated by the Brazilian government as a token of friendship in 1956. It is a replica of a baroque fountain of same name, built in Ouro Preto in 1745.