J.B. Fullarton
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. James Fullarton passed 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. The biggest employer in the area at the time was ICI, who produced explosives at their plant situated on the Ardeer Peninsula at Stevenston. 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.
Along with the new faces came a new style of photo shoots; photos focusing on mini skirts, bikinis and underwear – the epitome of innocence and fun. And he seemed to have no trouble in attracting willing models — perhaps still seduced by the possibility of acquiring the status of “TV or stage starlet” of their renowned predecessors.
To reinforce the ‘girl-next-door’ image that ToCo had strived for from the beginning, he put his models not in a dreary, clinical studio but in the Scottish countryside and his own home. His car, garage, kitchen, bathroom and sitting room must be the most photographed in the kingdom! We could even follow the home improvement schemes his success must have financed.
At first, he came up with sequences verging on the silly, with props, locations and situations that became a hallmark of his style. He put his girls into prams and car boots, into the countryside and directoire knickers. He put them into ridiculous combinations of clothing and settings – miniskirts, with stockings, suspenders and high heels, and with footballs in the Ayrshire countryside - you know, just the sort of stuff anyone walking their dog was likely to stumble upon. And the entirely innocent school dorm pillow fight sequences of earlier publications metamorphosed into ‘pretend’ spanking sessions, with knickers pulled halfway down, and hinted-at bondage sessions. It might seem humdrum fare nowadays but, in those days, it was pretty racy stuff and, as a ‘reader’, you get the impression he was photographing what turned him on – not you.
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, with Janet Neill following 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.
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!
In the mid-1960s, this input of Scottish girls dwindled dramatically. The reason has been the cause of great speculation among ToCo historians. There has been talk of another photographer with the surname of Shaw, who was also suppling pictures to ToCo at this time and after Fullarton’s input came to an end. We do think that Shaw was based in the Bearsden area, as evidence of this is apparent in some of the pictures that were suppled to ToCo. Again, we are left with more unanswered questions and some history look into.
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.
