The Totem Post
Nashvilles’ oldest shop
~story and photos by Paige Langenderfer
J
ust a few years shy of celebrating its 70th year in business, The Totem Post is Nashville’s oldest, continuously operated store. In fact, it is owned and operated by the same family and is still located in the same location at 78 South Van Buren Street. The store was opened in 1952 by Bill and Marielle Jockey, ballroom dancers who were on a break from performing on a cruise ship that sailed from New York to Buenos Aires. “My dad’s sister brought them here for a visit at the peak of autumn beauty and they absolutely fell in love,” said Liana Franklin, the Jockey’s daughter and now store owner. “A few months later Bud Austin’s leather business was for sale, so they decided to purchase the store and stay in Nashville.” Bud taught them his leather craft techniques, but the true focus of the store was on items from around the world. “They were always very interested in other cultures and so they sold items from all over the world,” Liana said. “They were one of only five stores in town, so they could basically sell anything they wanted.” Native American jewelry became a focus for Liana’s mother.
48 Our Brown County • July/August 2019
“She had traveled out west as a teenager and had fallen in love with the culture and the art and jewelry,” Liana said. “She wanted to start selling it in the store because of that love and because there were very few places in the Midwest that sold Native American jewelry at that time.” Today, the store still offers Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi handmade jewelry, both vintage and contemporary pieces. The remaining merchandise is much the same, but with so many shops in town now, it has begun to specialize in more totem related items with a spiritual nature. The focus is on Native American items, animals, rocks, music, and jewelry—all things that bring you closer to spiritual insight. Liana was born just a few years after the store was opened, and said the store was always an integral part of her family’s life. “I basically grew up in the back of the store,” she said. “When we were home, we would be marking stuff for the store. It’s all I ever knew. I learned that family and the business were our life. They were the same, they weren’t separate things.”
