Sara Stuart

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Shirts, Sweaters and Boots

When it comes to showing off the latest line in what the model girl is wearing today, fashion model SARA STUART is considerably with it. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that Sara is rather delightful to look at herself, and a shirt or a sweater or a pair of boots can almost be said to do no more than gild the lily.

And when nylons have to be modelled, who has a lovelier leg than Sara? Sara, by the way, is eighteen, spans the tape measure at 36"-22"-35". loves horses and winter sports, and is a classically beautiful Scot.

Spick No 130 - September 1964

Jacqueline Blair

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The Question Is

With so many facets to fashion, the question is should a girl go for boots or frills or Long Johns?

Secretary JACQUELINE BLAIR thought it might solve something if she went for all three but found out immediately that Long Johns simply don't go with a mini.

Boots go with a mini and so does a straw hat on a sunny day, and frills go with anything. But Long Johns are for warmth and comfort, not for viewing, So Jackie bought a maxi and everything was as it should be. Except that the maxi hid the boots and frills as well and she had to acquire the cutest straw hat she could find and wait for a sunny day.

Elizabeth Gallacher

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Bikini Line

On our last visit to the South of France the fashion writers were telling us the bikini was out and the new line was a one-piece. But the fashion writers were up the wall. The bikini was still in. You weren't surprised and neither were we, for when you consider how the line makes curvy ELIZABETH GALLACHER look even more curvy, who wants her to wear a one-piece?

Spick No 130 - September 1964

Renate Dittmann

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Favourite Fraulein

"Some of my best friends are Germans," said the man in the Piccadilly bar. "Oh? Why?" asked the second man whose name was Smith.

"I come from Munich,” said the first man.

"I tell you what," said Smith, eyeing a svelte redhead who'd just come in with a virile-looking guitar-player, "I'd like my best friend to come from West Berlin.”

"Please explain more," said the man from Munich, "I am most interested, although it is not in West Berlin where you will find the most happy Germans, but in Munich. I am from Munich.”

"And very nice too, " said Smith sort of non-commit tally. "But I'm not thinking of someone like you. It's been a pleasure meeting you, but l've got a different shape in mind. It's a girl.

"Ah," said the man from Munich.

"She's my favourite fraulein," said Smith, "and her name is RENATE DITTMANN and she doesn't half make my tonsils twitch. Talk about sex appeal. I certainly couldn't wish for a best friend better than her. We could have some marvellous outings to museums. How are you on museums?"

"I am fine. How are you on German beer?"

"Well, if you insist,” said Smith, "I’II have another lager and a hot frank-furter.”

Beautiful Britons No 154 - September 1968

Gina Dawson

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Same Girl

Perhaps GINA DAWSON doesn't look the same girl in her bikini as she does in her wig, but there's no basic difference. She looks gorgeous all the time, no matter what she's wearing, which is why she's been crowned as a beauty queen. We daresay you'd like it if the girl next door looked like Gina, but you've got your prize geraniums and your giant delphiniums, so what more do you want, greedy?

Spick No 185 - April 1969

Pauline Gorvin

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The Perils of Pauline

Ah, yes, there was this villainous miscreant who tied Emily Engadine to the railway line. Emily, the beautiful counter-intelligence agent, is actually none other than PAULINE GORVIN, a lovely Hampshire girl.

Well, some awfully decent bloke rescued her, Pauline dashed off, jumped into her red sports car, and roared off in pursuit of a devilish plot hatched by some unshaven burks who had it in for the Royal Navy. On the road Pauline picked up a dashing captain, they stopped at a roadhouse for a quick steak medium-rare and a bottle of champagne. They stayed for coffee and had a lovely evening, and as for the unshaven burks, they got jammed up in a level crossing and the Royal Navy sailed at dawn, after all.

Beautiful Britons No 153 - August 1968

Gina Scott

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Model See

We don't know her boss, but we do know that in GINA SCOTT he has a model secretary. Gina is as efficient at her job as a joy to the eye, and Gina is very much a joy to the eye.

Gina's vitalistics are 36"-22”-36", she's nineteen and swimming is her favourite sport and parties her favourite recreation.

Spick No 130 - September 1964

Jacqueline Blair

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Houseproud

It's not that JACOUELINE BLAIR has been strictly trained in the matter of polishing and dusting. It's just that when mother went out to do the weekend shopping she said to Jackie, "Do my housework while I'm out, darling, and you can borrow the car tomorrow."

Jackie doesn't mind being the victim of bribery when the end product is as high on her list as that, so she didn't waste time getting into an argument, she just grabbed mop, duster, cleaner and broom.

Naturally, if a girl can sit around and manage a mop at the same time, why not? There's always the easier way of doing a domestic chore. As long as the results satisfy houseproud mum, it hardly matters.

Beautiful Britons No 144 - November 1967

Joan Russell

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And When The Sun Came Out

Who should come out with it but JOAN RUSSELL.

She couldn't come out when it was raining because she wasn't dressed for it. Well, there was a fairy at the bottom of her garden in the Scottish Lowlands, you see, and this fairy was dressed in gossamer white with dainty wings. Joan wanted to get to know her better and the fairy, whose name was Louella, said she could only co-operate if she dressed as a fairy herself. Then they could flit around together and get quite chummy.

So as soon as the sun came out and conditions were right Joan danced into the light and flitted about and made fairy cooing noises. But there was no Louella. She'd forgotten. She'd gone off to have a cream and cheese tea with the fairy queen.

The trouble is that fairies today aren't as reliable as they used to be. They flit off just like that. Joan never did get to know Louella, though she'd set her heart on being fitted for a pair of wings. Life is full of disappointments.

Beautiful Britons No 153 - August 1968

Nicole Shelby

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Knightsbridge Texan

Texans don't often leave Texas, you know, because who wants to? What can they offer anywhere else that they haven't got in Texas and more of?

You heard about Joe Pongo, of course. He was an exception. He set off on his horse one day to ride to the border and spend a couple of years in Mexico City where he intended to carve Indian figures out of wood. Six weeks later he found he was still in Texas. He rode on. And on. In the end he realised the place was just too big, and they hadn't invented planes, so he stayed put and devoted himself to making boots for the American Cavalry.

Then, a lot more recently, a different kind of Texan called NICOLE SHELBY decided there must be other places in the world. As Texas was so big, she thought it would be a change to go to somewhere little. So, she came to Britain.

She was tickled. It couldn't be helped; the whole place was crowded with people. She'd never been tickled in Texas, there's a square mile of elbow room for everyone.

Anyway, Nicole got a work permit, bought herself some scintillating mini-dresses and let London see what a glamorous Texan really looked like. London took a deep breath and surrendered. And Nicole took a flat in Knightsbridge.

Since then, you've seen Nicole in any amount of TV series, and if you've ever wondered where she got those long, lovely legs from, well now you know, she got them from Texas.

Beautiful Britons No 154 - September 1968

June Gordon

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We're Off

Before we were indescribably smitten by a fair maid from afar, we were thinking of settling down before our winter fireside in a state of soporific hibernation.

Then we saw JUNE GORDON. She was just going home to Scotland. So, we cancelled the order for winter fuel and gave up all idea of hibernating. A rush of vibrant corpuscles to the head had sent us all agog and it was like Spring in the park again.

In other words, we're off.

We're either off to Scotland or off our head.

June is a secretary and the girl we'd most like to be lost in the typing pool with. What grace, what charm, what fair elegance.

As the coalman said when a hundredweight sack fell on his head, "I've gone all fragile.' It's a feeling of being far, far away.

Beautiful Britons No 144 - November 1967

Ruth Cavendish

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Caught On The Cover

You were bound to have noticed your favourite figure catching your eye on this month's cover. It's the girl you're always wanting to see more of RUTH CAVENDISH and if you don't think she's even lovelier than ever, it must be because you're going steady with a beautiful blonde, you traitor.

Span No 140 - April 1966

Susan Carroll

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Bookish

Girl who likes a good book is SUSAN CARROLL, and when Susan's deep in a good book it's no good ringing her up and suggesting a cosy date at a new Chinese restaurant because she won't be free until she's reached the end of the last chapter.

Aside from all that, Susan is a gay girl, likes fast cars and chivalrous men and going for walks around old ruins. Know any old ruins that might be worth a visit? She's been to all the castles.

Spick No 186 - May 1969

Anne Lee

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Secretarial Riposte

The guy with the confident verbosity which is another way of saying he had an over-rated line of chat- ran into a smart riposte when he tried to date Secretary ANNE LEE. Following an ambiguous conversation concerning office equipment, he first told her she sounded like a dream incarnate and then said, "I think we ought to meet how about under the clock at Victoria Station 6 p.m. tomorrow?"

“Love to,” said Anne, “can we make it a foursome?”

“Of course.”

“Good,” said Anne, “I'II be there with my mum and dad.”

Beautiful Britons No 153 - August 1968

J.B. Fullarton

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J.B. Fullarton - What Do We Actually Know?

J.B. Fullarton - The Scottish photographer who populated ToCo’s pages with some of its most popular models throughout its golden years.

James Barclay Fullarton was born in Ardrossan in 1923 to John Adam and Margaretta Black Fullarton, which would have made him 100 years old if he were still alive today. Sadly, he got nowhere near to that milestone, passing away at just 55 years old on the 23rd of August 1978, in Saltcoats. His death certificate states that he was a shop proprietor.

J.B Fullarton lived most of his life at 14a Montgomerie Crescent, Saltcoats which was, in fact, his father’s house and had originally been called Rowallan: a lovely looking property that had uninterrupted views of the Firth of Clyde. We do know that he was married to Anna Milloy and that he had a son, David Barclay Fullarton, who was born at Kilwinning in 1957. David now lives in Oxfordshire and works as a dentist.

Fullarton’s published years in glamour photography were from 1956 up until the middle of the 1960’s, which would have put him in his late 30’s to early 40’s when he was photographing for ToCo.

Fullarton, as we know, lived in Saltcoats - one of the three towns situated on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, the other two being Ardrossan and Stevenston in Ayrshire. (Threetowners) The biggest employer in the area at the time was ICI, who produced explosives at their plant situated on the Ardeer Peninsula at Stevenston. (Nobel Enterprises) At its peak, the plant employed 13,000 people. A great many of these employees were drawn from the three towns which, at that time, had an approximate population of just 32,000. The plant extended right down to the sand dunes, where we know several of the popular shoots were taken. What we certainly also know is that many of the girls that Fullarton photographed worked at that explosives factory. See earlier post. (An Update from Saltcoats)

We also know that 1956 was a good year for Fullarton, with some of his first pictures being published by ToCo as well as other titles, including Fiesta. Maureen Quail was, we think, his first published ToCo picture, rather than Janet Neill who followed just 2 months later. We also saw the first of what we must assume were his cars, with him owning a Vauxhall Velox (HHH 322) in 1956.

Janet Neill went on to make numerous other appearances, featuring in four editions of Fiesta during 1956. What is interesting is that some of those pictures are credited to J.W. Boyd, who owned a local photographic shop in Saltcoats, and then separately to Fullarton, with them obviously using the same studio. See earlier post. (An Update from Saltcoats Part 2) We do now believe that the John Fullarton talked about in this earlier post is not the one we are interested in, as we now have the evidence of a death certificate which gives an address that ties in with the photographic evidence from the magazines.

Janet, of course, went on to do a number of duo sets with Vicki Campbell, wearing some very short skirts (real miniskirts). This was all 8 years before Mary Quant - often cited as the inventor of the miniskirt, though hers were worn with tights rather than fully fashioned stockings.

The following year (1957) saw Fullarton win several prizes for his photography. Carnival magazine gave him a first prize for Maureen Quail V3 No 5 and a second prize for Betty McBride V3 No 10. In addition to this, he also won £1-1s - equivalent to about £32 today - for a picture he sent in of Hazel Anne McNemeny to Can Can V1 No 11, which was taken in Boyd’s studio. These small successes, as you can image, would have spurred Fullarton on with his photographic exploits, possibly giving him more confidence to take the pictures that we all enjoy today of the girl next door showing her stockings and suspenders (and sometimes a little more!) ToCo was a perfect outlet for these pictures that he certainly enjoyed taking. And who wouldn’t have enjoyed taking them? You can image how things snowballed a little, with the girls talking at work, encouraging others to join them in showing their underwear for a bit of extra cash on the side. Can you image seeing your pictures published by ToCo and the local boys seeing them? - it must have been a lot of fun. One thing that has always struck me about the pictures in ToCo is that the girls nearly always look like they are having fun and enjoying themselves, especially when working in pairs, which of course makes them all that more alluring.

1958 saw Sadie Milligan and Joy Carlton make their first appearances. Janet Neill featured prominently throughout 1959. She was married on 30th March that year, with some of her wedding pictures appearing in Funfare No 23 (Nov 59). Some were certainly taken in Boyd’s studio, with Fullarton, I am sure, having taken the others.

Patricia McGregor and Norma Gordon were also seen in 1959, as was another Vauxhall Velox (NVA 106).

1960 saw Molly Fleming, Sandra McPherson, Nikki St. John, Helen Candlish, Maureen Smart and Julie Scott make their first appearances.

1961 saw Janette Goodman, Diane McCall, Mary Graham, Susan McKay and Nikki Merrill.

1962 was a very busy year with Jackie Leyton, Leila Scott, Margo Stevens, Sara Scott, Marion McGregor, Liz McGregor, Maria Imlah, Rita Lees, Verna Harvey and Margaret Murray appearing on our ToCo pages, and another new car - this time a Morris Minor (OAG 11) I think I would have stuck with the Vauxhall though!

Jean Dee was, we think, his last known model, appearing in a duo with Helen Candlish in 1971, although the shoot was likely done some years previously. Many of Fullarton’s models did emigrate to Australia after getting married in the early 1960’s. This emigration would, of course, have depleted his pool, as well as girls getting married - we certainly don’t know what some of their new husbands would have thought about all this!

Fullarton though certainly had quite a cottage industry on the go from such a small population, and we must question who made some of those very short skirts that we all loved so much. It’s interesting to think what Mrs Fullarton thought about of all this, or maybe she did not even know what sort of pictures her husband was taking.

Some might say that 14a Montgomerie Crescent ought to have a blue plaque placed on the wall to celebrate James Barclay Fullarton - a photographer who brought so much enjoyment to so many.

I would just like to thank David, Chris, and Robert for their continued effort in researching and digging out all this information. They have made this post possible, allowing me to share it, so that we can all enjoy it.