Honaker nc.

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For decades, the Honaker photo shop was located at 416 9th St.

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HUNTINGTON — In the 1930s, when C. Frank Honaker opened his photo shop,
 the Brownie was the most popular camera in the world.

Introduced by Kodak in 1900, the Brownie — named for a popular
comic strip of the day — was a simple leatherette-covered
cardboard box with a lens. It was priced so cheaply
 that anyone, not just professionals or people
 of means, could own and use it.

In 1963, Kodak came out with its Instamatic, an inexpensive easy-to
-use camera that introduced a new generation to the fun of taking
snapshots. It proved an instant success, with millions sold.

But no matter whether you used a Brownie or an Instamatic, after
 you snapped your shots, you had to take your film somewhere
 to have it developed and prints made. For many Huntington
shutterbugs over the years that “somewhere”
 was Honaker Inc. at 416 9th St.

For decades, Honaker’s sold everything a photographer, whether an
amateur or a professional, would need, along with such other items
as binoculars, picture frames, photo albums and scrapbooks. It
also advertised “expert camera repair service.” In its early
years, the shop offered a number of non-photo items,
including books and magazines, greeting cards and
stationery. It even had a lending library of books.

In a 1978 interview in the Huntington Advertiser, Gladys Pack
 and Gladys Pelphrey told reporter Steve Byers they had been
 processing and printing photographs at the Honaker shop
 for more than 30 years. In its heyday, the shop promised
that if you brought your film in by 3 p.m. it would be
 ready for you the next day at 9 a.m. In the 1980s,
Honaker’s Photo Hut briefly operated as a
drive-up location at 5th Avenue
 and 29th Street.

Today, if you carry a smart phone around, you always
have a handy camera with you. Which helps explain
 why businesses such as Honaker Inc.
 aren’t around anymore.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Sep. 29, 2020.

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