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darkroom. ?The house is still there. She permitted me to do it.?
It wasn?t a profession that ran in the family, either. Fulton was the first. He just picked up a Kodak one day, started snapping pictures of his family and friends at school and decided he wanted to leam all he could about the picture-taking business.
?I had no professional training at all,? Fulton says. ?No schooling... I was interested in how they got developed and printed. I did it in trays. I read up on it. I got the literature from Eastman Kodak.
?I would mix the chemicals up in the bathroom to start with. There were no prepared chemicals. We bought the ingredients and mixed them. It was very crude compared to now. We had formulas to go by.?
Fulton got into the business before there was such a thing as colored film. If customers asked for color, his wife would paint their eyes, lips and hair according to their request. This was done for special occasions, Fulton says.
Eventually, their five children also became involved in the business.
?It made our family a solid situation, ? he says. ?I don?t think we had any major disputes.?
Four years ago, though Fulton was hesitant at the thought of giving up his profession, he retired.
?I hated to part with it and walk away from it, ? he says.
He still takes pictures at family gatherings, though. There are lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren ? now, he says.
He still keeps in touch with old times. Frequently he sees ?little kids, ? now all grown up and married, who used to laugh at the monkey.	1
?When I meet people as old as you (staff writer Du-1 Bose) are, they ask me if I still have the monkey,? Fulton ' says. ?It?s unbelievable, but they say ?You took my picture years ago when I was in school?... I see them in stores, j on the street and in offices. All over.?
There is one more activity that keeps him busy in? retirement. It is Fulton?s Birthday Club.
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Every day, from a list of about 3,000 names, Fulton calls people to wish them a happy birthday. It makes him1 feel good, he says.	1
?I don?t know how I conceived the idea,? Fulton says. ? ?It has become quite popular . . . The list just grew and1 grew. ?