NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you didn't know, Friday is a holiday celebrating something that's often part of our day. We knew just the person to go talk to about it.
"This is a Buck Rogers atomic pistol from the 1950s," said Dr. Jeff Thompson, showcasing some of his collection.
Let me tell you two things about Jeff. One, he taught English at Tennessee State University for 35 years. Two, he is a collector. Movies, posters. You name it.
Favorite monster?
"Oh, Creature From the Black Lagoon," he said.
A good choice.
Jeff got into all things pop culture pretty early on.
"The Batman TV show with Adam West made a huge impression on me," he said.
Now, his various collections have a little Vincent Price, a little "Three's Company," a lot of "Dark Shadows."
There was a reason to drop in to see Jeff on this particular day, a reason that's all part of this balanced breakfast.
March 7, 2025, was National Cereal Day.
"I didn't set out to collect cereal boxes!" Jeff said, surrounded by cereal boxes. "It just grew! It's anything that had the theme of movie, TV, comic books, sports. I got started collecting the cereal boxes in 1989 when the Michael Keaton Batman movie came out."
Since then, his collection's grown to include Dick Tracy Life Cereal, The Jetsons cereal, sequel cereals Batman Returns and Batman Forever Corn Pops, and my favorite, Bill and Ted's Excellent Cereal.
"I like these Star Wars cereal boxes that have Christopher Lee," he said, gesturing to another box. "Collecting cereal boxes certainly is a conversation piece."
Jeff's not sure the exact number of cereal boxes, but it's more than 200.
The way Jeff sees it, cereal boxes are a great thing to collect just in the way they feature icons and heroes that sum up a moment in time.
"Collecting, to me, is a bridge to the past," Jeff said. "It brings back good memories, our past, our childhood."
So, what would young Jeff think of all these collections he'd grow up to have?
"I'm sure he would be amazed," he said. "He would flip over all this stuff!"
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
My friend and colleague Carrie Sharp had a lot of fun last week, on an adventure to a country more than three thousand miles away! She’s back now – sharing her Adventures in Iceland through stories, and incredible images of this remarkably beautiful and unique island nation (kudos to Chief Photographer Catherine Steward)! But did you know Nashville has something very important in common with Iceland? Tourism! Here, Carrie explains how a volcanic eruption decades ago helped save the country’s economy from collapse!
-Rhori Johnston
