Al Gough of New Whiteland shows off a portion of his collection of characters from “The Simpsons” in 2003.
News from around Johnson County as reported on Feb. 15 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 112 years.
On this day in 2003, one of the stories on the front page of the Daily Journal was about a New Whiteland man and his collection of memorabilia from “The Simpsons.”
Al Gough wasn’t all that interested in the late 1980s, when a friend kept telling him about the smart-mouthed characters on FOX’s short-lived “The Tracey Ullman Show.” However, when those characters landed their own prime-time series in 1989, he reluctantly turned in.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
“The first show hooked me,” Gough said, referring to “The Simpsons.”
The series was set to broadcast its 300th episode on Feb. 16, 2003, and was set to become the longest-running sitcom in TV history by 2005. It was consistently popular, and a global merchandising powerhouse.
The evidence of its power was all over Gough’s New Whiteland home: a collection of memorabilia representing an investment of $3,000 to $4,000.
What was not on display in the living room, dining room and elsewhere was stowed away in closets or the attic. The collection included plastic figures, plush dolls, cereal boxes, Pez dispensers, CDs, comic books, board games, radio-controlled cars, keychains, watches, alarm clocks, neckties, a gumball machine and a telephone.
The heart of the collection was a series of so-called playsets that recreate familiar locations from the Simpsons’ family’s imaginary town of Springfield, including Moe’s Tavern and the Kwik-E-Mart convenience store.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2014
An unexpected snowstorm caught drivers off guard after more than four inches of snow fell.
1994
Johnson County leaders began an organized effort to explore the impact of bringing the Indianapolis Indians to Greenwood.
1984
A former employee of Franklin’s city-owned cemetery alleged that he and two other city employees buried the mayor’s dog during working hours at a residence owned by the mayor.
