American Relics is a newly opened historical shop situated between Otto and Franklin. Sitting alongside busy Highway 441, American Relics specializes in selling authentic Civil War artifacts, antique tools, antique cookware, and other pre-industrial revolution items.
Each piece is carefully placed and curated so the store doubles as a sort of museum. Among the many rare items, one can find a Cherokee translation of a New Testament Bible from 1860. Having items such as these lends to the idea of American Relics’s geographical relevance to the surrounding areas.
The shop itself is built inside of what is believed to be a late 1800s log cabin. The cabin was originally built on a local family’s property near the Tessentee area and was later relocated, log by log, to where it rests now. Owner Bob Matis was thrilled to renovate the cabin to make it home to his extensive collection of relics.
“You can’t put a store like this inside a strip mall. When you see the rough-cut logs, it complements the relics,” Matis said.
Nearly 53 years ago, Matis began his lifelong hobby of collecting. Matis’s father worked at a post office and would bring stamps home for him to collect. The items Matis continued to collect varied as the years went on, but lead soldiers held and still hold a special place in his heart. In fact, Matis and his brother used to set up toy soldiers in a battle scene format. They would sit across from each other and shoot rubber bands at the opposing toy soldiers until the last one collapsed, declaring the victory.
“We would play for hours, and near the end of the battle, we would play ‘Taps.’ This was all imagination and that is what was so cool about it; some kids never get the chance to experience that.”
Matis strives to give his customers a similar imaginative experience in the way he presents his store.
“I want to put something out that people generally don’t see, and things that people have always wanted to see,” said Matis.
Matis considers himself to have a nostalgic personality, which stems from all the stories that were told by his father and aunt as a child. A crucial element of an imaginative experience for anyone is a good storyline. Matis aims to keep a record, if available, of an item’s origin, authenticity, or historical significance. This helps to tell the story of a piece after it has gone through the hands of many owners.
One of Matis’s favorite relics is a sword from his wife. The scabbard of the sword is worn at an angle, leaving Matis to believe the soldier carrying the sword was of a shorter stature, as the sword would have been constantly dragged over rough terrain.
Matis hopes to grow community involvement in his store by hosting future Saturday outdoor sales that will feature other collectors in the area. Matis also looks to have historical events on the lawn beside his store to educate others about the Civil War.
American Relics is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The store is located at 6391 Georgia Road, Franklin.