Throughout the twentieth century, there was hardly a town in America that did not have a photo shop.  Just about every family had at least one camera, most likely purchased at the local store.  As important as camera sales were, however, it was film and film processing that provided most of a photo shop’s income.  If the proprietor was also a photographer, he or she might make additional income from portraits, group photos, school photography, etc.  Finally, for shops located in tourist destinations, there was money to be made from souvenir photographs of local attractions, townscapes, etc., sold in the form of postcards, prints and, later, slides.  

Otto Schallerer offered all of these services in his namesake store in Ketchikan.  He is especially remembered for the many hundreds of surviving photos, captured by his camera and sold in his shop, that bear his name.  From “aw, shucks” photos of puppies, to dramatic shots of sunsets and mountains, to pictures of ships, to local scenes: his photographs illustrate the spectacular, the primitive, the quaint and the cute of the Alaska that he knew.