In 1939 Philip Clements started Fulltone when he began developing Black and White film in his own basement. For three years he and his wife, Mai, ran the business from their home until moving into another basement, that of the Republic Building at 5th and Walnut in 1942. After four successful years at the Republic Ban building, Fulltone was ready to move yet again, this time to 5th and Guthrie in the downtown area, above a five and dime store. In 1955, nine years later, the business had grown to the point that the facility at 1404 S Shelby Street was built.
Even with this new location, Fulltone was still a photography lab that only processed blac and white film. It wasnāt until 2 years later, in 1957, that color gained enough popularity that Fulltone would expand the building to enable the process of color film. Business continued for another 11 years until Fulltone expanded yet again in 1968, to include the process of Kodakās revolutionary film, Kadachrome. Fulltone was one of the only 50 labs in the United States licensed by Kodak to offer this service in house.
