THE MAYBELLINE STORY

Tom Lyle Williams donates the Maybelline Building and 100 million dollars to The Salvation Army and CARE

2013-05-22T08:30:00.001-07:00

8. LINGERING TOUCHES

By Harris A. Neil Jr.

And that’s how things stood as the family and I moved to Colorado. It could have been the end of the story, but the bridge still spanned the miles, and contacts continued.

Some of us exchanged notes to stay in touch. I remember a nice note from our receptionist, Mary Wennerstrand, and another one from Ed Roessler, our Receiving and Warehouse Manager.

Then there was Rags. He sent me two very warm and personal notes over a span of several years, and I treasure them. They show up in the end notes following this section.

In addition, I had and made several phone calls to various people. Particularly I remember one call from Herb Zimmerman in February, 1969. He was quite excited, and told me that there had been a meeting that day in T. L.’s old office (the “Gold Room,” called that because of its gold leaf ceiling and appointments.) The Plough people ran the meeting, and it was apparently a “group firing” of most of the remaining key Maybelline group. John Cole was among them, and that hit me particularly hard. However, Herb survived, along with Julius Wagman and Mary Ann Anderson.

At Christmas time in 1969, the family and I went back to Chicago for a holiday visit with our relatives, there and in Michigan. During our stay, Mary Ann Anderson (now Chartoc, she had gotten married) put a small gathering together in our honor at their lake-front condo on Chicago’s North Side. It was she, her husband Shep, Dorothy Molander, Julius Wagman and his wife, and me and my wife. We had a quiet dinner and a nice visit, maybe just a bit on the somber side.

That visit in 1969 was my last contact with any of the Maybelline people. In later visits to Chicago I drove by the Ridge Avenue building, which had become a Salvation Army retail store. That was probably because T. L. had donated the building to them, tenants and all! Interestingly enough, in the days after his donation one of the tenants was Plough, Inc.! (Nowadays if you go to Google Street View, the Clark Street frontage is decorated with large awnings that identify it as “Chicago Furniture Liquidators.”)

So that was that—except for the memories. Only some of them are here in these recollections, there are just too many to fit all of them in. All of them are “baked in the pie,” and they won’t go away.

After that shaky start, it was one wonderful ride!

Stay tuned tomorrow for final thoughts from Harris A. Neil Jr.

Despite the magnitude of Tom Lyle Williams generosity, the gift got absolutely no notice or media attention.

2013-05-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

7. THE GIFT

By Harris A. Neil Jr.

Tom Lyle Williams at his
home in Bel Air California,
May, 1968 click to enlarge

On a Saturday in late May, 1968 all eligible Maybelline employees received a letter by registered mail with an announcement—and a check. The announcement was in a letter signed by T. L., and routed through the First National Bank of Chicago, Trust Department. “It outlined an employee gift that T. L. had put together, whereby each employee would receive a gift of $1000 tax free for each year of employment, from date of hire to December 31, 1967.”

The first year was not in the count, possibly to consider the recent influx of new people in the Plough era. So the count began one year after a person’s date of hire and ended on January 31, 1967. In further detail, the announcement explained that, under current IRS Regulations, there was a limit of $3000 allowed to both parties tax free, so the total gift, if large enough, would be divided into annual installments of $3000 each. The first check, as large as $3000, was included with the announcement as the first or total payment, depending on eligibility.

That Monday morning the joy was everywhere, people cried and hugged each other, and it was hard to get any work done. Over a short time the word got out to the Plough group as they visited Chicago, and their reaction was one of “sour grapes.” They already expressed views that we were overpaid as a group, and now this! That didn't dampen our collective joy; it was something they’d just have to get over.

It’s hard to relate the impact of this gift across the Maybelline work group. The amount, $1000 for each year of service, applied to every employ without regard to pay level or position with the company. Thus, you could say that it helped the lower-placed person more than a more advanced supervisor or manager. Also, there was no upper eligibility as to time of employment, so a more veteran employee was in for a larger share. In the extreme, I believe this

meant that the longest-serving employee came in for around $33,000, in equal payments of $3000 annually with a final finishing payment to cover all eligible time.

How much was this gift worth, in total? I have no idea, except that it ran into many thousands of dollars. Despite the magnitude of T. L.’s generosity, the gift got absolutely no notice. It escaped media attention, which was very much T. L.’s nature, and the way he would want it.

Almost more than the monetary value of the gift, it gave every person receiving it a big morale boost right when they needed it. Soon enough, the company would be moved physically, first to Memphis then to North Little Rock, Arkansas. To my knowledge, only two people from the “Old Maybelline” group made it to North Little Rock. It was over.

Stay tuned tomorrow as Harris A. Niel Jr. continues...

Maybelline - Plough Merger in 1967 starts off as a Nightmare!!!

2013-05-20T06:17:00.002-07:00

Harris A. Neil Jr. with his
friend DeAnne

6. THE PLOUGH MERGER

By Harris A. Neil Jr.

The morning of Saturday, October 7, 1967 began normally enough at our house. My wife and I got our two boys, ages 4 and 2, down for breakfast and set about putting it on the table. Then I went to pick up the Chicago Tribune from the front lawn, for something to read while we were eating. After a while I got to the Business Section, and down at the lower half of the first page was a headline—

Maybelline and Plough Agree to Merger Plan

102.3 Millions Are Involved

This was the first I had heard of the merger, and I didn't know how to take it. First I felt left out, wondering why I hadn't been in on this news. Then it went down hill from there, and finally I did something I’d never done before: I picked up the phone and called Tom Jr. at his home.

Despite what we now know was a marathon work schedule to get the merger complete, Tom couldn't have been more concerned or helpful in our conversation. He took half an hour or so and helped me understand why the lead-up to the announcement had to be held in secrecy. After our discussion he had me fully on board with a new perspective, and that helped a lot. Incidentally, that was the last time I either talked with or saw Tom. He retired immediately.

Monday morning came, and walking in to work was like entering a morgue. Everyone was in a daze, seeking information, and nobody could help much. I did get some insight from John Cole, and that helped. The biggest shock was that Tom Jr., Rags Ragland and Dorothy Molander were no longer with the company, they had all retired. The four executive offices now had only two occupants, John Cole and myself. Tom’s and Rags’s offices sat vacant as a reminder of the event. It was spooky.

As days went on, we began to get visits from various Plough executives and managers, and even Abe Plough himself. Most of my own contact was with their Production Vice President, Joe Sternberger and his staff. In particular, the Industrial Engineering Department group of six or so showed up regularly beginning almost at once, and began asking questions to gain quick knowledge of the Maybelline operation. This took time from my other duties and was redundant, but it went with the territory.

Somewhere in this time period Mr. Plough made his first visit to the company with Joe Sternberger. Since I was the youngest and most expendable member of our management group, I fell into the job of picking them up at O’Hare field and bringing them downtown to their hotel or to the company. This became a repeating pattern, whenever Mr. Plough came to town I’d pick him up with whomever he was with on that trip. It could be Joe, or Lanny Smith, or just about any of his key executives. I began to dread these runs to the airport.

Mr. Plough was old even then, and boasted that he had reached the age where he could draw full salary and could also collect full Social Security! He treated me with almost mock respect, calling me “Mistah Neil.” I cringed when I heard that, because he would then follow up with a work-related question, to which of course he already knew the answer. All this went on while I was driving in Chicago traffic, getting those people either downtown or to the building on Ridge Avenue. By some miracle we always made it.

There was so much going on in this early period that it’s hard to sort it out, but one thing that they saw immediately was the woeful lack of space we were working in. Also, in the Plough operation they had a regional distribution system for order shipment, spread across the country. As I remember it, they had distribution centers in Cartaret, New Jersey; Miami, Florida; Memphis, Tennessee; LaMirada, California; and in Alsip, Illinois.

To integrate the Maybelline product line into this decentralized system, Joe took the helm and immediately had us put a full second shift, bolstering the small night shift we had at the time. Plough also found and leased a warehouse space near the Ridge facility, which we called “Wolcott” after the street location. This became the finished goods warehouse and shipping point. The idea was to ship

merchandise not directly to customers but to the regional distribution points and have them handle customer shipments.

The Wolcott facility was a rather quiet setting compared to the hectic pace that was going on at the Ridge location. Herb Zimmerman, who succeeded Ches Haines, when he retired, was more or less in charge over there, continuing as Traffic Manager. I got over there at times too, in the course of my job.

One of the things that developed in this arrangement was that Rags Ragland, would visit over at Wolcott. Of course he was now in retirement, but he bled Maybelline and it hadn't let go of him yet, nor he of the company. This also put him into the changing picture, and he didn't like what he saw or heard any more than the rest of us. However, he handled his observations always in the context of his investment, and that part of it was moving along very well.

By the spring of 1968 I came to the personal conclusion that I was not fitting into the Plough template at all, and felt very out of place. It was mutual, and finally one day I made a mistake and had a red-faced scene with one of the Industrial Engineers who had been bugging me. Joe got wind of it and called me into John Cole’s office for a “woodshed” session. He raked me over the coals pretty well, but part of it was positive, suggesting that I look into training courses to tame my temper. This I took, and then I surprised myself and returned Joe’s favor. I thanked him for his thoughts, and suggested to him that if he and Plough, Inc., continued to come at the Maybelline operation in the rough-shod way they were going, “The wheels would fall off.” That ended our discussion, and I don’t remember ever seeing Joe Sternberger again.

Truth be known, I was already searching a way to leave the company, and soon made a connection. My wife and I decided that if we had to make a move we’d make it a big move, and relocate to Colorado. This we did, to pursue a franchise business with an outlet in Colorado Springs, so I submitted my resignation to John Cole.

We left Maybelline and Chicago in August, 1968 to begin our new life. After a few setbacks things smoothed out for us, and the memories of Maybelline and all those wonderful people began to fade, but not altogether.

In early 1968, Dun and Bradstreet listed the Maybelline management group (as of 1967) in its “Million Dollar Directory,” a compilation of major U. S. companies. They followed later that year with a “September Cumulative Supplement” that happened to show the lineup after the Plough merger. Here is how those two listings looked:

PRE-MERGER

Thomas Lyle Williams Pr. & Tr.

Thomas L Williams Jr Exec VP & Sec

John W Cole VP Pur

Harold W Ragland VP Sales

Harris A Neil Jr Prod

Mary Ann Anderson Adv

POST-MERGER

Abe Plough Pr

Harry B Solmson Exec VP

R Lee Jenkins VP

John W Cole VP Pur

Herbert H Bunchman Sec

Sam B Hollis Tr

Harris A Neil Jr Prod

Mary Ann Anderson Adv

This is another way of expressing the sad story that had unfolded, even that early in the merger. There would be more sadness.

1915 -1967

Maybelline's 1966 "ULTRA" products, reached out to the booming teenage market, before the Plough Merger.

After the Plough merger Maybelline-Plough incorporated "ULTRA LASH" into a mini-make-up kit with new colors and products. Up until 1970, "Ultra Lash" had been the best selling mascara in the world.

Maybelline Great Lash was born in 1971 and is still the number one mascara of all time.

Maybelline was known as "THE WONDER COMPANY" in the cosmetic industry What was their secret?

2013-05-17T11:44:00.001-07:00

Harris A. Neil Jr with Harris A. Neil lll

5. PEOPLE, CULTURE AND STYLE
by Harris A. Neil Jr.

Nothing in my work experience, before or since, came close to matching the work environment of the Maybelline Company. The people, from my mentors Tom Lyle Williams Jr. and John Cole on down, were outstanding. Rags Ragland, was the father figure for all of us, the glue that held the place together, no disrespect to Tom Jr.. The management style was professional, but very simple and workable.

COMMUNICATION:

Communication is probably the best indicator of how the company operated. I can’t remember writing or receiving more than a dozen or so internal memos in all my years with Maybelline. If there was an “Employee Handbook,” I can’t remember it. We all knew where we stood, and treated one another with respect and good will. Life was simpler then, with almost no Federal or State personnel oversight except for minimum wage and overtime provisions. There was no OSHA, no ADA, and very few other “alphabet soup” agencies. There was some presence at the City government level. For example, the company had to operate the “Chicago way,” such as the annual courtesy call at Christmas-time from the Chicago Fire Department. Several fire officials would call on Tom Jr., and leave with whatever tribute was prevailing for that year.

ACCOUNTABILITY:

While that streamlined system of communication kept things going internally, things were much more conventional in external affairs. In my case, I had heavy daily contact with our supplier group, and I did almost everything in writing, to put a form of importance and accountability into our relationship. It worked for the most part, and it beat trying to remember what it was that we discussed when so many contacts were buzzing around.

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT:

As declared by (Tom Lyle Williallms,) T. L. (as explained in The Maybelline Story), there was no pattern of nepotism within the company. Of course, there was the arms-length relationship, company to vendor, with Deluxe Mascara. Also, Ches Haines was the Maybelline Traffic Manager, responsible for all material and order movement, in and out of our loading dock. The company was 100% dependent on truck movement, so this was a vital function. It could get quite exciting if the Teamsters decided to walk out, or if Chicago had one of its trademarked blizzards.

SPACE MANAGEMENT:

Just as the management group was small in number, so were the personal office needs. In my early days, I worked in the general office area, and there were four private offices on “executive row.” In later years, Mary Ann Anderson came into the company as Vice President of Advertising, and the company converted some apartment space adjacent to the general office and created offices for that function. As mentioned earlier, this expansion also moved further to provide space for the new Computer Department, Credit Department, and for Rag’s now two assistants. Bob Medlin had joined Carle Rollins to assist Rags.

Teamwork:

In addition, Ches and his assistant, Herb Zimmerman, had an office near the Receiving/Shipping areas downstairs. Also, Julius Wagman was a “vagabond,” spending much of his time across town with the action at Munk Chemical Company, but visiting the Maybelline building frequently.

After the management group loosely outlined above, there were many more wonderful employees involved in clerical, production, warehousing, material handling, accounting, you name the function and there were people covering that square. Most of the employees were long-time veterans, although we had newer hires that came aboard with the growth that moved us all.

LEADERSHIP:

The employment profile was a reflection of the neighborhood surrounding the company. We sat in a North Side neighborhood called “Edgewater.” Chicago, like all large cities, was a city of neighborhoods, and Edgewater was a mixed area of single and multiple residences, retail and commercial, but no industrial. There was also a large public high school across Ridge Avenue from Maybelline..

Overarching this idyllic pattern of operation was the mostly invisible hand of our founder and leader, Mr. Tom Lyle Williams. He and his California staff communicated mainly with Rags and Tom Jr., but also from time to time with Dorothy Molander, of course, and John Cole and Julius Wagman. I personally never talked with the gentleman, but one time John recorded a detailed guideline for us and I heard his pleasant, deliberate voice.

EXECUTIVE CONFIDENCE:

The telephone was the conduit for all of T. L.’s daily contact, and it was constant. Rags, of course, traveled in his national contacts, and told me one time, humorously, that T. L. would find him at his hotel and go on and on, whether or not Rags could talk right then. When that happened, Rags would just set the handset on the bed and go about what he needed to do. When he got back, T. L. would still be talking and Rags would rejoin the conversation. Rags said he never got caught!

PERSEVERANCE:

This was the pleasant and very active work environment that we enjoyed with one another over the years. It was pleasant and functional without being stuffy. The only cloud on the horizon was that nagging question of how we’d dodge the bullet on the space crunch we were facing by 1967. The answer came one morning in October.

Stay tuned next Monday as part 6 unfolds.
"The Plough Inc. Merger."

ULTRA LASH MASCARA was Maybelline's prime money maker from roll-out to the Plough merger and beyond.

2013-05-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

4. GAME ON!
By Harris A. Neil Jr.

Harris A Neil Jr with his son
Harris Neil Jr . lll

Thus, the Maybelline environment, both internal and external, became the stage of activity as I joined the company in early 1959.

Very quickly John Cole introduced me around and toured the entire facility with me, from stem to stern. One of the first things I recall in looking back is Dorothy Molander asking me how often I wanted to be paid. How often? Yes, she said, some of us like a weekly check, some twice monthly, whatever you’d like. I had never heard of anything like that before or since, and I quickly opted for a weekly check. After all, I was broke.

Right after I started our Assembly Supervisor, Hazel Peterson, retired. It was just a coincidence but it put that part of the operation in a new and untested direction. Even though I was new, John asked me to “be the eyes and ears” of what would become the Production Department.

All of this moved along while the brand-new “Magic Mascara” was giving all facets of the company plenty of challenges. The several suppliers of packaging and product components were on maximum output, and the private label contractor came on line very quickly after the aborted start on Maybelline premises. Juluis Wagman, Chief Chemist, had set this up across town, and a small private-label outfit called Munk Chemical Company. This arrangement not only worked for the moment, the relationship between Munk and Maybelline grew over the years to encompass many new products. You name it, if it was a liquid product Munk was in the picture. As Maybelline grew, so did Munk.

New products began to roll out in rapid succession. It seemed that we’d just about catch up to volume from one blockbuster and another one, even bigger, was coming down

the pipeline.

If we could single one over the others, it would have to be Ultra-Lash Mascara, with a newer applicator brush and formulation. We chased after that one for months before volume leveled out, at a very high volume that never went down. It had to be the prime money-maker for the company from roll-out to the Plough merger and beyond.

(NOTE: The “money-maker” reference above is speculation only. I was not privy to the company’s finances except to track direct labor production costs.)

As this volume grew and new products came along, Tom Lyle Williams Jr., John and Harold “Rags” Ragland, Sales Vice President, worked together in their respective roles to improve the appearance and form of product packaging into a new, uniform appearance. Simplified, the whole product line (except for most Introductory sizes) soon went to market blister-packed on bright-white product cards, either in direct shipments or shipments coupled with carousel display stands that Rags had developed.

They were called “Eye Fashion Centers” and they included a full array of the Maybelline line, insuring that retailers had a complete, balanced line of products.

This growth also required changes in the internal operation. Where packages had been mostly hand-assembled in all history, now blister packaging quickly became the dominant method. The equipment available for this new packaging setup was quite new, because the concept itself was just moving into the marketplace. It applied to many, many product lines, not merely cosmetics. Such other lines as writing instruments, batteries, shaving products, electronics, on and on, it was the way to go on all retail fronts.

Eventually, in order to get maximum production out of our square footage, we ended up after several generations of machinery, with a small, one-man company who was starting with a new and interesting machine. The company became Alloyd, Incorporated, and the machine produced 60 packages a minute. When we worked into this new machine we found in some cases that we could make “two-up” dies, thus increasing production to over 100 packages per minute. This advancement bought time for the company in the limited and unchanging space that production occupied in the building.

Even with these changes and improvements, time and space were both running out for the company. By 1966 it became painfully obvious that we had come close to outgrowing the “cracker box.” In early 1967 as I recall, Tom located and purchased a plot of suitable land on Algonquin Road outside Chicago, beyond O’Hare Field. He also engaged an architectural firm, Rabig and Ramp, to begin design work and develop preliminary plans for a new facility. Also, John Cole made contact with selected commercial realty companies to scour the existing inventory of properties for a possible facility.

I remember going with John and a real estate agent to a building in Chicago that had been vacated by Kitchens of Sara Lee when they moved to their own new facility in suburban Deerfield. It was obvious that Sara Lee had left that building in the same predicament that was facing Maybelline. It had been subdivided, repurposed, overworked, and just plain worn out. When John and I left that place we never talked about it again. There wasn't anything to talk about, really.

As this period of growth moved along, all of our jobs moved with it. Even without formal guidelines, it was the natural position of the company to keep staffing “thin,” with no bureaucratic build-up. A good example was with Rags, who managed the national sales and marketing function with only one assistant, Carle Rollins, and an executive secretary, Gladys Johnson. John’s staff consisted of myself, and an excellent administrative and inventory person named Joan Lundell. In turn, Joan had one clerical helper.

In my case, my job began to “transition” to accommodate both the company’s growth and also new tasks that became necessary with that growth. I remember on day, back in 1961, when I got a carbon copy of a letter John had written to a supplier. In it he referred to me as our “Production Manager.” That was new to me but I liked it, and that became my title from then on.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part 5, as the plot thickens.

There was no changing the movements of the market, so by careful vendor selection, scheduling and follow-up, Maybelline could indeed make itself bigger by far than it looked.

2013-05-15T10:35:00.001-07:00

3. THE INVISIBLE MAYBELLINE COMPANY - By Harris A. Neil Jr.

Anyone who visited the facility we looked at in the previous section would question how a dominant company in the cosmetics industry could possibly operate out of such a “cracker box.” Well, the secret had to be in the sprawling, nationwide network of suppliers and private-label companies that supported the company’s packaging and distribution activity. By careful vendor selection, scheduling and follow-up, Maybelline could indeed make itself bigger by far than it looked. It’s beyond my recollection to go through all of the suppliers that made up this extension of the company. It is, however, possible to look at a few examples and companies that stand out:

Deluxe Mascara, as described by Sharrie Williams in The Maybelline Story, had been a part of Maybelline back in history, but was now a separate company, located a few miles from the Maybelline building. Tom Hewes and Jim Hughes, brothers-in-law, operated the company and supplied all cake mascara to Maybelline. The market was not kind to cake mascara, probably because liquid mascara dominated, so in a sense Maybelline was not doing Deluxe any favors. There was no changing the movements of the market, although cake mascara must have had its loyal users, as it stayed in the line and sold in modest but diminishing volume.

Avon Products (yes, that Avon) supplied Maybelline with Sable Brown cream mascara in all sizes, as well as all shades of cream eye shadow. This was an historic relationship, probably going all the way back to T. L. and Noel Williams. At first Avon filled these products in their facility in Middletown, N. Y., but soon after I started John was able to get them to move this production to their local plant in suburban Chicago. The two companies had a close relationship, and had a totally different approach to the marketplace.

Plastofilm, Inc. provided all thermoformed blisters for our packaging operation. The blisters were formed of butyrate plastic, although that’s not how it started. Originally Plastofilm wasn’t even in the thermoforming business. The founder was in the medical x-ray game, chemically “washing” the photographic

surface from the acetate film for the value of the silver it contained, and only later went into thermoforming to reclaim the clear film. That explained why we’d get a picture of a broken bone once in a while in their inbound shipments. Nearly all packaging was blister-packed as time went on, so our volume with Plastofilm was huge. Also, the blisters were a high-cube commodity and strained our limited storage, so we ended up with daily shipments from them as our volume grew.

Anchor Brush Company, another supplier that went back to T. L.’s day, was a brush company as the name implies. However, over time it also went into plastic molding, and ended up doing a wide variety of packaging and product components for Maybelline. Think of the Magic Mascara and Ultra-Lash caps and “barrels,” and that’s the kind of thing they did.

Edwards and Deutsch, a Chicago printer, printed the classic white Maybelline cards with the familiar “eye” in the upper left corner. We ordered large quantities at a time, and they would send proof sheets as each run started, for our inspection and approval. They’d cover my office floor like so much linoleum, and we’d scan and measure them for corrections or approval.

Those are just a handful of examples of our national supply network. In their cases and all others we’d place major annual requirements orders, then “release” periodic smaller orders against the annual order for ongoing production. The frequency of these orders varied, from quarterly in low-volume packaging parts down to twice-weekly or even daily for high volume, high-cube supplies.

Throughout my tenure with the company, there was very little turnover among the many suppliers. This in no small part was to John Cole’s credit, who maintained good communications across the board and kept misunderstandings to a minimum.

Thus we see both the internal and the external side of the Maybelline Company as I came into the picture in early 1959. Both of them would keep me busy for the next nine-plus years.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part 4 of Harris A. Neil Jr.'s

"Chicago's Maybelline Story."

50 years of Maybelline-Magic took place in a simple nondescript building in Chicago

2013-05-14T12:20:00.002-07:00

2. THE VISIBLE MAYBELLINE COMPANY

By Harris A. Niel Jr.

The beige brick building that housed the Maybelline Company in the 1960s was handsome, but nothing unusual. It took on the shape of an arrowhead pointing northward, between two major Chicago streets, Clark and Ridge. The rear, or base, of the arrowhead was bound by a couple of alleyways, forming an irregular base line

Entering at the company entrance at 5900 North Ridge Avenue, there was a main-floor foyer with a terrazzo floor and paneled walls. A semi-circular stair with curved brass rail rose out of sight to a second-floor office and reception area. Behind the receptionist window was a general office area where about a dozen people worked. Opposite the receptionist was a door leading to a group of four executive offices. That was it.

Back to the lower-level foyer, another door led to the main-floor operating areas. First, the Traffic and Shipping Departments were in adjoining spaces, convenient to a “dumb-waiter” device that dropped orders from the general office above to the lower area. Further into the plant, the “Assembly Room” came along, where maybe 50 ladies at individual work desks assembled thousands of packages of Maybelline products by hand daily. The room was set up with a supervisor’s desk in front, with assemblers in rows across the room, similar to a school classroom or study hall. Hazel Peterson, the supervisor, stopped any chit-chat if it got anywhere near disruptive.

An arrowhead pointing North

In addition to the Assembly Room, machine packaging was beginning to emerge. There were two smaller rooms, former retail store spaces, that were set up to produce this new packaging. One room packaged the medium-sized cake and cream mascaras and pencils onto gold cards, putting them first into blisters or “bubbles,” then stapling them to the card.

The second store-front room contained a machine that sealed products in blisters to cards by a dielectric sealing process. Several newer products went to market from this room, including the “Brush ‘N Comb,” automatic self-sharpening pencil and refill, and the brand new liquid “Magic Mascara” and refill. The latter was proving to be a smash hit in the marketplace, and we were still running behind to keep pace with demand when I started.

To the rear of these operating areas, there was a small warehouse and staging area for materials in and out of the shipping and assembly operations, and the sole truck dock. This dock was the connecting point for all in-and-out movement, all of it by truck.

Moving into the building from the dock, a freight elevator led to the basement warehouse and storage area. Most of the basement was Maybelline territory, except for the building utilities and storage cubicles for the apartment tenants. To call this space a “warehouse” gives the wrong picture, because it was a low-ceiling basement throughout. This limited storage on pallets to about six-foot height. Even at that, the space was randomly cut into smaller spaces by walls that may have made sense in some earlier time, but no longer did.

And that was the Maybelline “footprint,” part of three levels of the building. Also, there was a line of active retail store space along the Clark Street frontage. Starting with the “arrowhead,” a Rexall drug store occupied the point of the building, wrapping around to the Ridge Avenue frontage. Also, in no order, there was a barber shop, a short-order restaurant, an ice cream store, a hardware store and finally a “currency exchange,” a sort of check-cashing service.

Elsewhere, there were several dozen apartments on the upper two floors of the building. Many of the residents were also Maybelline employees, so they only had to go downstairs to go to work!

Over the years leading up to the merger with Plough in 1967, Maybelline edged into more of both the retail and residential space in the building as growth dictated. Finally, there were no retail spaces, Maybelline had moved into the whole main level of the building. In addition, Maybelline had expanded the office space to create a new Advertising Department, and expanded the Sales Department to provide offices for two Assistant Sales Managers. In the final years it also expanded to include the Computer Department, an IBM main frame computer with input punch-card equipment and a staff of three.

As Magic Mascara came along early in this period, the company hired a cosmetic chemist named Julius Wagman to formulate and refine the new product, with the plan to set up manufacturing and filling facilities on site. In fact, Julius did exactly that, with a specialized facility carved out of one of the old retail store spaces. That is, until the City of Chicago fire inspector paid a visit one day. They determined that, while the liquid product was harmless in a small package, it was volatile and taboo in manufacturing and storage quantities.

Magic Mascara

We were operating against city code in that location. That was the end of that, and immediately Julius and John had to line up an outside source to supply us on a “private label” basis. This was a setback, but it only put Magic Mascara into the same orbit as every other Maybelline formulated product: An outside source would supply us, leaving Maybelline as a packager and distributor of its own products, but not a manufacturer.

Harris A. Neil Jr. with a friend, in Maui

This little exercise has been both a joy and a challenge, but in any event it wouldn't couldn't--have happened without your book as a compass. The Maybelline book gave me a perspective that I’d lived without for all these 50-plus years, and that helped me immensely as I gathered both the thoughts and the materials that sit ready to head your way. Thanks, your book is the unseen hand guiding mine in whatever you see written here.

"What made Maybelline a Giant in it's Field" Interview with Maybelline Executive Harris A Neil Jr. Explaining growth and production strategies

2013-05-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

My name is Harris A. Neil Jr. I worked at Maybelline in Chicago from January, 1959 to August, 1968, a period of great growth and excitement in the history of the company. Among the wonderful people I had the privilege of working with were your cousin, Tom Lyle Williams Junior, and Harold “Rags” Ragland. I was very much their junior, 28 years old when I started in 1959. The math tells you that I’m now 82.

As Production Manager, in a highly marketing-oriented company, I would like to explain the packaging program, as it came down during those years of growth and new product rollouts. The changes and improvements you mentioned in your book, finally resulted in a whole new look and methodology, and kept our production floor plenty busy.

I would also like to explain the outside vendor program, which people nowadays call “supply chain management” or simply “logistics.” That involved both packaging and product components, which became more of a tightrope act as volume and product increases pushed us forward. It was even more exciting because we only had a finite amount of floor space for warehousing and production.

I want to comment on the Maybelline management style and interactions as I saw them from my “worm’s-eye” view. I still remember it well, and learned as I moved on in life that it was unique, but it was I think bewildering to the Plough group who did things very differently.

And yes, I want to give my thoughts on the Plough merger, as it was announced and as I lived through it for the ten months I remained with Maybelline afterward. It became a different company immediately without Tom Jr., Rags and Dorothy Molander. That topic alone is one that maybe will make this story worthwhile all by itself. Also, and only in this subject area, we’ll have to discuss some negative events, but they happened and we’ll face them head on.

Then there’s T. L.’s gift to his long-time employees. I couldn't find the letter outlining the details of the gift, but I clearly remember the basics, and can give you a pretty fair idea of the scope and impact of this wonderful gesture on his part.

1. A SHAKY START

It all began in one day in January, 1959, when I received a phone call from an employment agency on the north side of Chicago, where I lived in a bachelor pad with three other friends. I had registered with that agency earlier, part of a job search that I’d been on for weeks, going back to late 1958.

The nameless voice on the phone asked if I was available to talk to a local company about an opening they had in “inventory control.”

I said yes, and he set me up for an interview at the Maybelline Company, a mile up the street from our apartment. I got there at the scheduled time, to meet a Mr. John Cole. The street address was 5900 North Ridge Avenue, and as I entered the building I saw a large sign proclaiming

MAYBELLINE

World’s Largest-Selling Eye Beauty Aids

It wasn’t too late to chicken out, but I swallowed hard and opened the swinging door and walked in. After all, I was so broke I couldn’t even afford gas for my ’53 Ford, among other things.

John Cole couldn’t have been more gracious. He was older than me by ten years or so, a trim and friendly man. He gave me a brief rundown on the company and the job in question, and politely asked me about my background and experience. After that exchange I guess he thought we could go to the next step, and made a call to a Mr. Tom Williams.

That cleared us to walk down the hall to another, larger office. I met Mr. Williams and we continued the interview, the upshot of which was a job offer. John offered a starting salary of $5,500 per year, with annual raises to be discussed on each anniversary. The company would also reimburse my employment agency fee, about $300, after 90 days on the job. I accepted, and we agreed that I would start on January 19. (Tom Lyle Williams Sr. Birthday.)

As I learned very quickly, John would be my boss and trainer. He functioned across all operating areas of the company, with heavy involvement in purchasing and supplier relations. Also, I learned that Mr. Williams was the son of the company founder, T. L. Williams. At that time and for years afterward, I heard the elder Mr. Williams referred to only as “T. L.”

John needed me to help him with the heavy detail in keeping the inventory balanced. In turn, this function required heavy contact with the wide range of packaging and product suppliers, located literally across the country at that time. This would relieve John to concentrate on his many other responsibilities, both external and internal.

That was the thinking and high hopes as we began. No luck. Things began to unravel almost immediately because I had no direct experience in that kind of work and couldn’t avoid making an almost immediate mess of things. Of all things, Tom Williams saw the disaster shaping up, and stepped in personally. The main tool in daily inventory actions was a hand-posted weekly inventory report listing all Maybelline items, starting with the finished-goods quantity, followed by the quantities of all component parts that related to that item. Well, those numbers were supposed to shout for action if they were out of position, particularly if they were dangerously low. Shout? Those numbers just sat there on the report, and they all looked the same to me.

Okay, Tom and John could have fired me right then, but I guess they figured I was the bird in hand, and they’d be farther ahead if they could salvage me rather than starting over again. So Tom would get that weekly inventory report ahead of me, and leave me with an “action list,” hand written, with detailed instructions to call such-and-so and order this much material. While this burdened Tom with what I should be doing, it was something he had done in his earlier years with the company, and he was good at it.

Slowly, slowly, two things began to happen. The inventory began to resemble the profile that Tom wanted to see, and I began to understand what needed to be done without Tom’s time and attention. In my case I was like a newborn bear cub, coming into the world unable to see for the first part of his life, then slowly gaining vision and focus.

If Tom hadn't spent the time he did in this early phase of my Maybelline experience, this would be the end of the story. Both he and John had salvaged my job, and now I was out there in solo mode, thanks to them. In sum, that was a close one!

Stay tuned tomorrow. I will be posting more of Harris A. Neil Jr.'s story everyday for the next two weeks. If you are interested in business, marketing and production, you won't want to miss the inside workings of a Mega-Company from the man who was there and saw it all unfold everyday.

Mad Men's Don Draper continues to represent Maybelline in 1966 and 68 and Roger Sterling identify's with Beach Boys song "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" while taking LSD in 1966

2013-05-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

I just happened to catch this scene on Mad Men a few weeks ago and was surprised to see this 1960's Maybelline ad still up on the active client bulletin board.

(in the upper left corner.)

Mad Men takes place in 1968 this Season. My great uncle Tom Lyle Williams had just sold the Maybelline Company to Plough Inc. December 29th, 1967.

The same Maybelline ad appeared on Mad Men,

last Season in 2012.

Roger Sterling, ‘Mad Men”s sophisticated sliver-haired ad executive, went on an LSD trip with help from the 1966 Beach Boys classic ‘I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times

LSD - Beach Boys scene

Beach Boy's I Just Wasn't Made For These Times....
My cousin Chuck Williams BB1 and The Beach Boys

Next week I will be posting the entire 1960's chapter of Maybelline Story, (the chapter that was glossed over in my book.) It is by far the most extensive "behind the scenes view" of The Maybelline Company ever told, by one of the last living Maybelline 'Mad Men,' Executives,

Harris A Neil Jr. Be sure to check in on Monday.

PAST POSTS ON MAD MEN

Mad Men Returns Which Means Don Draper Is On The Prowl

Mar 20, 2012

Be sure to watch Mad Men, season 5, on Sunday, and if you haven't been following it, catch up on all the seasons with Netflix. It's one of the best shows on TV, especially if you love vintage. (And, especially because there are ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : MAD MEN'S NEW CLIENT IS ...

May 21, 2012

Here is another similar Maybelline ad. Tom Lyle Williams, Maybelline's owner, sold Maybelline to Plough Inc. in December of 1967. I was just amazed to see this ad on Mad Men and am so happy I just happened to catch a ...

The original MAD MEN... came out of the Maybelline Co.

Mar 21, 2012

YOU KNOW, THE ONE THING ABOUT DON DRAPER FROM MAD MEN IS HE HAS ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE OF HUMOR. I HOPE HE PLAY'S TOM LYLE IF THE MAYBELLINE STORY EVERY BECOMES AN HBO MOVIE,...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Maybelline - The Original Mad Men in ...

Apr 19, 2011

Way before the fictional Mad Men series set the world on fire, creating a mega advertising company in New York in the 1960's, there where the original Mad Men of Chicago set in the early half of the 20TH Century, ...

Maybelline's Chicago Headquarters 1915 -1968

2013-05-08T10:30:00.001-07:00

Maybelline Building in 1934 withe it's executives, family and employees. Don't you love the Maybelline truck?

Executive Secretary, Dorothy Molander standing at the Maybelline Building entrance in the 1940's.

Maybelline at 5900 N Ridge Ave, Chicago, IL 60660

This is the main entrance of the (old) Maybelline Building on Ridge Avenue in Chicago. the script "M" cast into the concrete above the entrance--standing, of course, for Maybelline.

The four sets of windows on the second floor were the four offices on "Executive Row." They now have curtains, so they've probably been converted to apartments. The glass brick wall runs along the production area as it existed in the '60s.

The building to the left is a nursing home, built since the Maybelline days.

Here's a view along the N. Clark Street line of the Maybelline Building. It's all one big store now, but those little entries were each smaller stores when Maybelline was there.

Review.....I have read The Maybelline Story book. I found this is a remarkable story! I cannot keep my eyes off of it! Your Great Uncle Tom Lyle Williams is a true icon of Maybelline! Thank you again!

Stephanie Lee

Thank you to Harris A Neil Jr. for sending me the recent pictures of the Maybelline Building. Harris worked for the Maybelline Company from 1959 to 1968. I will be sharing his memories on my Blog over the coming weeks.

Vintage Hollywood lives on through The Maybelline Story

2013-05-06T12:03:00.001-07:00

Tom Lyle Williams and Emery Shaver, standing in front of TL's
1934 Packard Victoria, parked in front of the Villa Valentino.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo and remembering our generous and kind uncles, Tom Lyle Williams and Emery Shaver...Left side, Jeff Welles, Donna Williams, Patty Welles. Right side, Mary Ann Welles, Floyd Welles, Sharrie Williams.

1960s. Uncle Emery at Christmas handing gifts. Floyd and Jeff Welles right hand side of picture.

1960s. Family Christmas with Uncle Emery Shaver at the head of the table.

Excerpt from a letter written by Emery Shaver to his sister Betty during WW ll.

Villa Valentino

6776 Wedgewood Place

Hollywood, 28, California

Friday, Dec. 3, 1943

Dear Betty

Your plans for Christmas sound very practical, however, you must be sure that there are a lot of little, inexpensive games, books, toys, etc. to make the children feel that it is really Christmas. It is difficult for them to properly appreciate the necessity for budgeting especially at Christmas time and while I know they will be proud of any new clothes that they may get, yet the heart of childhood is in play, and the most absurdly cheap little distractions mean so much to them. I am enclosing a check for one hundred dollars, which covers your allowance and my Christmas gift to you and the children. May I suggest that you take one day to shop in town without the children and with someone who can help you with the packages, getting lots of little inexpensive trifles to please the Children. Hope you can have a tree and the trimmings. Remember how much joy we had as children on so little, but with the Spirit of Christmas strong and bright in keeping up the traditions. It is high time that the children began to realize the true significance of Christmas, and I would impress on the religious meaning of the day, too. Would it not be a good idea to let each of them have a little money with which to get a few little presents, so that they, too, can share in the joy of giving.

80 years ago, Williams and Shavers in 1923..... Maybelline's founder and owner Tom Lyle Williams right, with the Shaver family, Betty, Bud and Emery. Left, friend, Ches Haines and Tom Lyle's sister, Eva Williams.

Tom Lyle Willams and Emery Shaver shared their lives together for close to 50 years. Read all about it in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It. Written by original Maybelline family descendant Sharrie Williams.

Thank you to Floyd and Jeff Welles for sharing pictures and letters from thier uncle, Emery Shaver, with me.

Old Hollywood Glamour 1940 style - Tuxedos, False Eyelashes, Daiquiris and Dancing the Conga.

2013-05-03T10:31:00.001-07:00

Excerpt from a diary written by Jane Allen, while visiting the Villa Valentino, with Tom Lyle Williams niece, Annette Williams, in June, 1940. Picture left to right. Tom Lyle Williams, Jane Allen, Emery Shaver, Annette Williams, Arnold Anderson.

We drove to Pasadena to see a sketch of Tom Lyle's new car. The artist for Packard had sketched it on a blackboard, actual size, to give tom Lyle an idea of dimensions. Believe it will be some sporty job. The car will be a long convertible, four or five passenger, cream with red leather upholstering. From the sketch it looks as if this will be the best looking and most unusual car Tom Lyle has had. We spent the afternoon waiting for Tom Lyle to get all details settled, and stopped at a Drive-in for a sandwich

Rushed home to dress for Earl Carrolls

Another big night. Tom Lyle and Arnold dressed in tuxedos again and we wore formals. I decided to wear false eyelashes and felt like one of the glamour girls. Evelyn and Bill went with us to Earl Carrolls, so there were six in the party until around eleven when Emery joined the crowd. Earl Carrolls beautiful night club, much larger than Ciros, with a stage away from the tables for dancing.

We all had a turn at dancing, but Annette and Arnold did the Conga with the crowd. The rest of us were sitting at the table and enjoyed the entertainment. Had a couple of daiquiris around the table and dinner at ten or ten thirty. The floor show here was gorgeous with loads of beautiful girls. The stage was revolving, so there were many unusual arrangements in dance.

Bert Wheeler was

master of ceremonies.

Villa Valentino fountain with statue, ASPIRATION.

Left Earl Carroll's around two, took Evelyn and Bill home, but didn't get to bed until around 4 A.M. The moon was beautiful when we got home, and Tom Lyle turned on all the flood lights in the garden. With the fountain, lights, flowers and moon, the garden was gorgeous.

If you love Old Hollywood Glamour, vintage fashion, make up and classic cars, you will love my book. The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind it. Order a signed copy from this Blog, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Thank you and tell your friends.

Old Hollywood Glamour at the Villa Valentino - '40's Style

2013-05-01T12:46:00.002-07:00

Tom Lyle Williams with his nephew Bill Williams by the pool at the Villa Valentino

Bad-mitten Court at the Villa Valentino

Lush gardens surrounding the Pool at the Villa Valentino

Excerpt from a letter written by Emery Shaver to his sister Betty from the Villa Valentino, Hollywood, California, dated January 26, 1944

(War time rationing at the Villa)

We have been having a most usual cold spell, but it is not too severe, however, the heat, especially at night, feels very good. Our garden had been coming along so well, many lovely roses and camellias now, and some azaleas. Some of our citrus trees are bearing heavily, so we have plenty of oranges, grape-fruit and tangerines.

Food is scarce and very high. We just cannot manage to have all our meals at home, so we have to eat out often, however, tonight we are having Lyle's favorite, vegetable soup, a big pot of it, and we will make a meal from that, as there are plenty of vegetable and meat in it - well, maybe I exaggerate a bit - not so much meat. With gooseberry pie for dessert, it should be a good meal.

Want to see more pictures and read more about the Villa Valentino? Here are past Posts on the subject.

Maybelline Headquarters at the Villa Valentino - the maybelline story

Nov 02, 2012

Their story is clearly spelled out in my book, The Maybelline Story, but in case you've already read the book and wished for more pictures of Maybelline West, The Villa Valentino and the three men who lived there, here are ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : The Villa Valentino and Tom Lyle's ...

Jul 18, 2011

Tom Lyle's family meant the world to him and visited often at the Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills, (until it was taken for the Hollywood freeway,) than at his new modern glass and steel estate in Bel Air, California.

Life at the Villa Valentino in Hollywood, in the 1930s.

Jan 14, 2011

Tom Lyle and Emory led a quiet life in the luxury of the Villa Valentino, and didn't flaunt their relationship. In the 1920's and 30's people didn't care much if somebody was gay as long as they kept a false identity in public.

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Remodeled Villa Valentino becomes a ...

Feb 25, 2011

Valentino's sudden death at 31 from a ruptured ulcer caused worldwide hysteria, several suicides, and riots at his funeral. These same crowds of women haunted the Villa Valentino in Whitley Heights for many years.

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Rudolph Valentino's Villa in 1936 in ...

Feb 21, 2011

Scroll down and enjoy some of Maybelline's amazing Art Deco advertisements from the 1930's, and further down you will find posts describing Rudolph Valentino's Villa in Whitley Heights after the "Great Lover's" death in ...

Rudolph Valentino's Aspiration, sets the tone for positive thinking.

Sep 09, 2011

Aspiration at the Villa Valentino, Tom Lyle's home in the Hollywood Hills. I believe Tom Lyle, was a major contributor, paying for the statue to be set in De Longpre Park, in 1930. He bought the Villa, placed a copy of Aspiration ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : The Latin Lovers Villa becomes the ...

Feb 22, 2011

The Villa Valentino was located in the Whitley Heights section of Hollywood at 6776 Wedgwood Place, but was eventually razed to make room for the Hollywood Freeway in 1949. When Tom Lyle bought the Villa he loved it's ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Hollywood Royalty, Rudolph Valentino ...

Nov 21, 2012

After Valentino's untimely death, Tom Lyle and Emery rented than bought the home in Whitley Heights...named it The Villa Valentino and concentrated on Maybelline's Advertising... while brother, Vice President Noel James ...

Love sick women tear Rudolph Valentino's toilet apart.

Feb 23, 2011

Once the Villa Valentino was finished Tom Lyle put a heavy rustic wooden gate and fortress like walls around it, as well as the 100 trees to protect his privacy. Privacy was of utmost importance to him as he worked from the ...

Maybelline Story brings Romance back to life. - the maybelline story

Sep 15, 2011

Maybelline Story brings Romance back to life. Rudolph Valentino was every woman's Romantic Idol, in the 1920's and even more so after his untimely death in 1926. Tom Lyle Williams, bought the Villa Valentino, around ...

MAYBELLINE GLAMOUR ADS created at Valentno's Villa in West ...

Jan 18, 2011

From the Villa Valentino studio in Hollywood came Technicolor airbrushed photos of stars' faces so flattering and popular that movie studio executives flocked to Tom Lyle to promote the movies their stars were appearing in.

Maybelline Headquarters in the Hollywood Hills - the maybelline story

Mar 09, 2011

Maybelline family honors Noel A. for his duty in the Navy - 1945.

Jun 03, 2011

Noel joined the Navy, left Chicago and headed to Southern California where he was stationed in San Diego, close enough to visit his uncle Tom Lyle at the Villa Valentino and Bill of Course. Noel A. at the Villa Valentino with ...

Whitley Heights, Paradise during Hollywood's silent film era.

Sep 29, 2011

Villa Valentino, 6776 Wedgewood Place, Whitley Heights, built in 1922, this was the site of the home Valentino shared with Natacha Rambova in upscale Whitley Heights just north of Hollywood. In 1951 the state of California...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Valentino's death mourned at grave site ...

Feb 24, 2011

Tom Lyle's sister's Mabel and Eva with their husbands, Chet and Ches, on the veranda of Rudolph Valentino's Villa in the Hollywood Hills, August, 1937 -. Here's the earliest photograph I have of a Lady in Black (click,) ...

HEDY LAMARR, a plan for mixing beauty with brains, in 1938.

Dec 19, 2011

Chet and Mabel flew to California with Ches and Eva to visit Tom Lyle at the Villa Valentino in 1938. It was a pleasure trip, with some very important business to discuss. "What to do about an IRS suit, looming over the ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Maybelline founder's nephew Bill ...

Jan 25, 2011

Tom Lyle's nephew Bill Williams spent his childhood at his uncle's Villa Valentino and developed a passion for beautiful convertibles. Out of all the classic cars Bill collected and sold during his life, his favorite was his 1977 first ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : William Haines and Jimmy Shields - the ...

Oct 21, 2011

Tom Lyle opened an antique store in Beverly Hills, for Emery, where he could meet celebrities, outside the Villa Valentino. Tom Lyle, preferred a secluded life inside the Villa. Haines and Shields had a hand in decorating The ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Automobile designer Alain Clenet's ...

Oct 23, 2011

The nostalgic features reminded him of his childhood in the 1930's, growing up surrounded by his uncle's beautiful custom-designed, Packard's. Tom Lyle's 1939 Packard 120 Convertible Victoria, at the Villa Valentino, where ...

belline Summer-Daze, 1922 - 2011

May 23, 2011

Evelyn Williams, my grandmother, with her brother in law Tom Lyle Williams, her son, (my dad,) Bill Williams and my mother Pauline Mac Donald Williams at the Villa Valentino in Hollywood Hills, 1942.

Maybelline Heiress says "let them eat cake," - the maybelline story

Jan 28, 2011

Maybelline Heiress says "let them eat cake," while filming at her fathers estate. The Villa Valentino, Hollywood Hills, 1945. Rudolph Valentino's Statue, Aspiration symbolized aspiring to the stars and never giving up on your ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Our Darling "Diddy" rests in the arms of ...

Oct 12, 2012

At The Villa Valentino, Eva, June Tom Lyle and Marilyn... in the pool ...... Villa Valentino (6); car guys (8); card mounted products history (1); CARE (1); Carl Perkins (1); Carl Wilson (1); CARLYLE BLACKWELL JR. (4); Carmen ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Maybelline founder Tom Lyle Williams ...

Dec 23, 2010

Tom Lyle Williams with Sallee Allen, Emery Shaver, his niece Annette Louise Williams (Corbet) (his brother Noel and Frances Williams second child) and Arnold Anderson in front of the Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills, ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Maybelline King was never to proud to ...

Dec 16, 2010

Tom Lyle bought Evelyn a little Californi

a Bungalow The Maybelline Story, inside peek of a never before told stroy!

Mar 11, 2011

He enjoyed his time with his nephew, swimming in The Villa Valentino's Olympic-size pool, playing badminton, dropping dimes in the slot machine in the game room - decorated like the Hawaiian Islands -or listening to Bing ...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : My mother's friends included Judy ...

Jan 14, 2013

My father's mother, Evelyn Williams, Tom Lyle Williams, my father Bill Williams with his girlfriend, (my mother,) Pauline Mac Donald at Tom Lyle's Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills 1941. Sparkie the dog is in the float.

Tom Lyle Williams and Emery Shaver, together in life and death.

Nov 14, 2011

Tom Lyle and Emery ran the advertising division of the Maybelline Company, at the Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills. When the Villa was torn down to make room for the Hollywood freeway, in 1949, they moved to a...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : Sharrie's upcoming events in October.

Oct 08, 2011

http://vimeo.com/29981530 Click here, to see Sharrie's interview, discussing her father Bill Williams, and his uncle Tom Lyle Williams, at the Villa Valentino. Bill Williams 1977, Series 1, Clenet, will be shown at The Santa ...in West Los Angeles on Kelton Ave., so they would be near him at the Villa Valentino and he could help r

Maybelline Family grows as the next generation is born in the 1940's.

Jul 01, 2011

Tom Lyle bought a 1940 Packard while at The Villa Valentino in Hollywood in 1940. Tom Lyle with is first little niece, Noel and Frances' first grandchild, Annette Huber, born in 1940. . Uncle Ches Haines, 1940, (Tom Lyle's ...

Maybelline Family Glitz and Glamour in California, 1938.

May 24, 2011

Tom Lyle Williams with Mabel, Chet, Ches and Eva at The Villa Valentino - Hollywood, 1938. Catalina California 1938 - left to right, My father Bill, great uncleTom Lyle, my Grandmother Evelyn and my auntie Eva, auntie Mabel...

Maybelline's founder Tom Lyle Williams belief in positive thinking.

Sep 14, 2011

Besides having the statue ASPIRATION, at the Villa Valentino and in Bel Air, representing Rudolph Valentino, and his great success in Hollywood, Tom Lyle, believed in the principals outlined in this brochure, sponsored by...

THE MAYBELLINE STORY : The Gilded Lily, behind Maybelline doors.

Oct 24, 2011

Bob also remembers when The Villa Valentino was taken in eminent domain, for the Hollywood freeway and Tom Lyle bought the lot at the top of Bel Air, to build his steel and glass estate. The story goes. Emery told Tom Lyle ...

OLD HOLLYWOOD pictures and letters from the Villa Valentino during the 1940s

2013-04-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

Donna Williams, Floyd Welles, Jeff Welles, Sharrie Williams

Meeting Emery Shaver's nephews, Floyd and Jeff Welles for the first time, was quite unexpected and pretty close to a miracle. I had searched but could never find Emery's family, then out of the blue, Jeff Wells, heard I was presenting for the Laguna Beach Playhouse and contacted me. The incredible coincidence was, he lived down the street from my father's home in Newport Beach. Our meeting brought more stories, personal letters and pictures from the Villa Valentino. Here are a few I'd like to share with you.

Maybelline's Tom Lyle Williams at the entrance his Villa Valentino.in the early 1940s
If you look closely you'll see the words Villa Valentino written in the bricks with the
address number 6776

Tom Lyle Williams and Emery Shaver at the Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills

The Villa Valentino, named after the Silent Film Star Rudolph Valentino.

An excerpt from a letter written by Emery Shaver dated Tuesday, August 27, 1946 to his sister Betty Cardell.

The Villa is all spruced up and looks more beautiful than ever. We have a new houseman now, a Swedish fellow, and he is very neat and clean, as well as a very good cook, so the future looks bright for a while. Don't know how long we have to enjoy the Villa, as the highway I spoke of some time ago is now definitely set to come through our property, but whether this year or next is not yet revealed. It seems such a pity when we have worked so hard to get everything here just as we like it. Don't know where we will go, but possibly to Laguna Beach or La Jolla, towns south of here, on the sea.
More pictures of the Villa Valentino this week.

Details on Tom Lyle Williams 1934 Packard featured on my opening page click here

THE ULTRA GATSBY IMAGE ... MAYBELLINE HEIR, BILL WILLIAMS' "CLENET"... 1977 SERIES 1 number 13

2013-04-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

I received this email March 11th

Dear Sharrie Williams,

My name is Brandon Dickson and I am a film student at California State University, Northridge. Currently, a group of us are in the preproduction stages of a documentary on Clenet automobiles as our senior thesis. We heard about your family's history with the #13 car and saw a video of you speaking about it and its' involvement in your life. We are really interested in speaking with you and perhaps interviewing you as a subject for our project. Please contact us as we look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,
Brandon Dickson (Executive Producer)
Jennifer Fernandes (Director) --

I agreed to meet with Brandon and Jennifer with their film crew four days later on March 15th, and we shot clips for this mini-documentary. The thesis being, "Why do Clenet owners still have such passion for their car 35 years later." Here is the result of our collaboration.

After graduation, this Summer, Brandon and Jennifer plan to expand their film into a full length Documentary and enter in Film Festivals around the Country.

Producers...

Brandon Dickson's childhood fascination with cameras and movies has blossomed into college with honors and a career in film and TV production. He began producing shorts and YouTube videos in 7th grade and hasn't stopped since. His dedication to high production values and interesting subject matter is evident in his work as he continues to produce documentaries, narratives, and photography for all occasions.

Jennifer Fernandes is a self-motivated and hardworking television production student who strives to outdo her expectations for every project she becomes involved in. After spending a year and a half studying biology she realized that her true passion lies in the creative world of television and film. As she eagerly progresses through her courses and gains valuable knowledge, her passion grows. Jennifer continues to work hard with determination towards advancing her career in the professional world ahead.

Steve Kouracos, Clenet's original Fabricator, featured driving the Clenet,

Trailer...Gatsby will be released May 10, 2013 at theatres everywhere.

A screen grab of a Buick chasing a Duesenberg from THE GREAT GATSBY (Warner Bros.)

Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan lead the cast.
The soundtrack for the film was produced by Jay-Z and features his wife Beyonce’

Bill Williams

Want to know more about Bill Williams and his 1977, Series 1, Gatsby-Clenet, number 13 click on past posts I have done. Click link below.

http://www.maybellinebook.com/2011/10/maybelline-heir-bill-williams-classic.html

THE GREAT GATSBY (1974): Robert Redford was and still is the ultimate best Gatsby in my book. The class, the sophistication, the looks and the style. This new Gatsby is nothing more than a carnival ride with a beautiful background behind it.

VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD MAKE UP...1938 Maybelline ad featuring The Good Housekeeping Stamp of Approval

2013-04-19T14:45:00.002-07:00

The Good Housekeeping Stamp of Approval guaranteed Maybelline was as pure as a mother's Love.

By 1938 Maybelline targeted a new market of women - or should I say girls - who had grown up seeing the little red Maybelline box on their mothers dressing room table.

"If Mother uses Maybelline it must be pure and I can trust it." echoed the young voice of the day, and with Good Housekeeping deeming it harmless, tear-proof and non-smearing, any sweet sixteen could carry it in her purse without looking improper or worse, "cheap."

This might seem silly by today's standards, but in 1917 trying to convince a young girl to darken her eyelashes and eyebrows with Maybelline was nearly impossible. Only prostitutes and actresses dare be seen in public with made up eyes, but by the late 1930's, a new generation of women changed all that.

Maybelline was the first eye cosmetic company to have The Good Housekeeping Stamp of Approval and Tom Lyle Williams, marked the occasion by introducing Maybelline in a beautiful new red and gold metal case that was crush proof in a young girls purse.

A true mastermind, Tom Lyle Williams constantly inspired women to be more beautiful and thus more confident. In this ad he coined the word, Maybelline Mascara for the first time. Up until 1938, it had been known as Maybelline Eye Beautifier.

Read more about the King of Advertising, Tom Lyle Williams and his family in...
The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Comment....

Dear Sharrie Williams: I want to thank you very much for all the years of Maybelline Cosmetics products make every women on the planet beautiful and confident! I will look forward in reading the Maybelline Story book!!! 99% of the makeup, I use is Maybelline cosmetics, including: eye shadows eyeliners, mascaras, lipsticks, lip glosses, foundations, face powders and makeup and eye makeup removers. Sincerely yours, Stephanie Lee

Belgrade, Serbia, Rocks with Beautiful Girls, Fashion and Maybelline

2013-04-17T11:25:00.001-07:00

My cousin Joyce Hewes-Dennehy, sent me this picture a friend of her's took while in Belgrade. I did a little research on Maybelline, fashion and Belgrade and found out it's one of the top beauty capitals in the world... and their women are some of the most gorgeous models in high fashion today .

Fashion Show in Belgrade, Serbia, Crystal Model Agency
Click here

Twice a year the Select fashion agency organises Fashion Selections in some of Belgrade's most attractive and original locations, presenting the newest trends in the world of fashion.

The main program for the winter, 2012 event, was sponsored by Maybelline.

MAYBELLINE FASHION SELECTION Belgrade, 2012,

Belgrade is one of the oldest cities in Europe and has since ancient times been an important focal point for traffic... an intersection of the roads between Eastern and Western Europe.

OLD HOLLYWOOD,- Maybelline print ads that rocked the world between 1930's - 1960's, now considered works of art.

2013-04-15T11:05:00.003-07:00

1933 black and white Maybelline ad.

1938 full page color Maybelline ad.

Maybelline black and white ad from 1952

Maybelline two page color ad in 1960

REVIEWS...A tale of real people finding themselves, dreaming big and never giving up.

2013-04-12T23:03:00.001-07:00

One reason I read is to learn from the experience of others. This is why I loved the Maybelline Story (that and the exciting American history backdrop in Chicago and Hollywood). The characters in this story are vibrant and inspiring. I was swept up into their journey and struggles so much that I read the book in 3 days! I love a book that stirs my emotions enough that I actually care about how the lives of the characters unfold. Some face their demons and move into the light, all find their way. This is a tale of real people finding themselves, dreaming big and never giving up. It screams HBO mini-series all over it.

I saw a woman reading this book on a recent flight so I took a quick look at it. I spent several hours reading it yesterday and did not want to put it down. It is a real page turner for anyone interested in history, Hollywood glamour, self made men and family drama. It has very little to do with makeup and everything to do with building a business, while the family's dynamics and secrets unfold. I'm sure this will be turned into a movie in the future if it is not already in the works.

This was the fastest read I've ever done! The legacy, the story, and the drama behind it kept me intrigued! its a great story about the uprising of the company and the family of Maybelline. Tom Lyle Williams and the story behind him is truly one of a kind! I would recommend this read to anyone. Can't wait for the movie! Great Read!

AMAZON CLICK AND BUY

VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR - BLACK AND WHITE MAYBELLINE ADS, 50's STYLE

2013-04-10T08:35:00.001-07:00

SCOTTSDALE LADIES GIVE THEIR SEAL OF APPROVAL TO SHARRIE WILLIAMS One of the original Maybelline family’s direct descendants,

2013-04-06T10:03:00.001-07:00

Author Sharrie Williams on the right with her daughter Georgia were honored at a special party given on April 3rd, by Suzanne Simon at her beautiful Troon Arizona, estate.

Left to right, Michelle Zauner, Lisa Seal, Monica Kovalchok, Mary Kowieski, Patty Southwick. Back row, Suzanne Simon and author, Sharrie Williams

After a champagne and wine reception, followed by a casual dinner overlooking the Golf Course, 20 ladies gathered in Suzanne's luxurious living room for a special Presentation of the Maybelline Story.

Left to right, Monica Kovalchok, Michelle Zauner,
author Sharrie Williams, Shirley Durocher.

Sharrie entertained the lovely group of Ladies with details of Maybelline's fascinating rags to riches story, while showing family pictures, vintage Maybelline products and regaling personal memories and stories.

A few vintage Maybelline products.

Vintage Maybelline Ads and one of Sharrie's albums of Maybelline family pictures.
After six lively hours of fun and laughter Georgia and I headed home, but not before making some new friends and planning a possible event at the Phoenix Museum.

Below is the interview written in the September issue of the North Scottsdale Lifestyle Magazine that sparked Suzanne Simon's interest in The Maybelline Story. She suggested her friends read my book and then invited me for a lovely evening of stimulating conversations .

The Maybelline Story And the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It

Perhaps you remember the familiar advertising slogan, “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe It’s Maybelline.” It might be one of the last legacies handed down from the original family of an American dynasty. Although the company now known as Maybelline New York was acquired by L’Oréal Paris in 1996, Maybelline remains a household name.

One of the original family’s direct descendants, Sharrie Williams, has authored, The Maybelline Story…and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It, to tell her family’s own fascinating story.

The office in her attractive, yet beautifully stylish adobe-style North Scottsdale home, is neatly stacked with a rich collection of photos and memorabilia. She tells the story of how the vision of her grandfather’s brother founded the American make-up giant, Maybelline Cosmetics.

The book is a true page-turner, each chapter leaving the reader wanting more. In the Preface, Alan Andrews Ragland, describes company founder, Tom Lyle Williams, as “a self-made man—a boy from small- town American who, through determination, great ideas and plain old hard work, created an astonishingly successful company called Maybelline.”

In 1915, Mabel Williams, inspired her brother, Tom Lyle, to formulate an eye-beautifying product called, “Lash-Brow-Ine.” Today’s version of that original product still claims to be the best-selling mascara of all time. Tom Lyle, started the company that became known as Maybelline with a $500 loan he borrowed from his brother, Noel J. Williams

That company, named in sister Mabel’s honor, would eventually become the leading cosmetic industry giant in America.

As the story goes, after witnessing his sister Mabel, “replacing” her singed eyebrows and lashes with a mixture of burnt cork and petroleum jelly, Tom makes a tremendous discovery. He realized that the way actresses made their eyes so compelling on screen could be easily replicated for non-starlets with a few ingredients in their proper ratios.

Sharrie Williams relates a colorful story of how her great uncle, the middle son of an American family (with roots going back to the 1600s, that include Benjamin Franklin, the founder of West Point and a leader of the Boston Tea Party) played a pivotal part in American history, creating a company with a product that has become a familiar household name.

During the “roaring ‘20s,” the “flapper era” would provide a devoted following for the eyelash and eyebrow beautifiers that Maybelline produced. The demand for Maybelline products was so great that even through the Depression the company remained successful.

“Hollywood and Silent Films were a key ingredient in making Maybelline, the great company it became during the 20th century,” Sharrie explains.

Some of the famous faces over the years who have represented the Maybelline Cosmetics Company have included: Gloria Swanson, Jean Harlow, Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, Lana Turner and Loretta Young.

After the company sold in December 1967, Linda Carter of Wonder Woman fame became the face of Maybelline for a time. After it sold again to Loreal Paris, Maybelline New York’s famous Super Models representatives have been the likes of Christy Turlington, Kirstin Davis, Miranda Kerr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Melina Kanakaredes, and Sheetal Mallar. Julia Stegner, Jessica White, Emily DiDonato, Lisalla Montenegro, and Shu Pei.

The author grew up in Southern California leading a middle class lifestyle until the sale of the Maybelline Company made her father an overnight multi-millionaire, which she says turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. Sharrie reveals candidly her own realization about beauty, from the inside out.

We asked her some questions about her life and experience in writing the book.

nsL: What is one of the most interesting things you learned from documenting your family’s history—and from growing up in that family?

SW: I learned, our lives were like the old Saturday Night Live skit, ‘It is better to look fabulous than to feel fabulous.’ I remember when the Maybelline Company sold, my parents went through a nightmare divorce and my father became obsessed with creating a lifestyle of the rich and famous. It was a brutal transition and I covered up my grief with a lot of make-up, designer clothes and an expensive car. After all…to the world I was supposed to be happy and look fabulous, but inside my heart was breaking. This lifestyle went on until I too, faced a divorce and the loss of a child. From that point on I wanted to find the real person hiding inside the perfect facade I created to protect me from being hurt.

nsL: in your book, you point out that the Maybelline Company survived through some of the most tumultuous times in American history. What made the company sustain during the Great Depression? What was it like to be a part of that history?

SW: My great uncle Tom got down on his knees every night and asked God for guidance. During the Depression he lost his fortune, but he was given the key to success. Up until that time, the Maybelline product was mostly available through the classifieds in magazines and newspapers. He decided to sell Maybelline in the dime stores, making it affordable for all women, putting the product in a little red box and dropping the price from 75 cents to 10 cents. He moved from Chicago to Hollywood and used the famous faces of movie stars to endorse his product…and the rest is history. I’m grateful to be from the family that gave the world a quality product for beautifying their eyes, yet it was, and is, still sensibly priced.

nsL: how did you come to live in North Scottsdale and have you adjusted to living in the desert?

SW: My daughter graduated from Arizona State University and received her Masters from University of Phoenix. She fell in love with a boy at ASU and married him at his father’s home in Tempe. After their first child was born, I knew I had to be where my kids were. So I rented my home in California and bought this charming adobe-style home on an acre in North Scottsdale. I’m still going back and forth to California to see my sister and my friends, but after almost three years living here, writing my book and now my blog everyday, I’m falling in love with the peace and quiet and creative energy radiating from the beauty surrounding me here in the desert.

nsL: What are some of your own personal beauty and healthy lifestyle tips?

SW: I’ve been using use the most incredible skin products from Dr. George Brennan in Newport Beach for over 15 years and they have kept my skin tight and plastic surgery unnecessary. HC Compound and PM Stimulator: These two prescription strength products are used together to accelerate exfoliation, lightening and the cell renewal process. The HC Compound contains point one percent Retin A, and the PM Simulator contains four percent hydroquinone and 12 percent lactic acid.

nsL: What are some of your favorite summer foods?

SW: I eat mostly vegetarian to keep my blood free from toxins, and I enjoy raw salads, with two tablespoons of olive oil every day; a watermelon at least once a week; and my favorite breakfast is a cup of frozen blueberries in the blender with almond milk. I find the more flushing foods I eat, the cooler I feel, and I sleep much better in this heat.

nsL: you’re in great shape. What do you do for exercise?

SW: I go at least four or five days a week to AZ on the Rocks for yoga, and I swim in my pool for cardio. Combining all these ingredients has been my fountain of youth, and I’m blessed to have the time and space to live such a healthy lifestyle here in North Scottsdale.

Sharrie Williams blog and website can be viewed at MaybellineBook.com. Her book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It can be purchased on Amazon.com and through her website. Follow Sharrie on Twitter @sharriewilliams and Facebook Sharrie Williams.

Article Eleanor Andersen | Photography Joseph Albert

Magazinelink. http://www.nscottsdalelifestyle.com/2012/08/29/september-2012-issue/

Maybelline was first named Lash-Brow-Ine in 1915, here is it's history, by James Bennett for Cosmetics and Skin

2013-04-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

Lash-Brow-Ine

Cosmetics and Skin

Anyone who talks about the origins of Maybelline usually starts with Maybelline’s founder, Tom Lyle Williams, watching his sister Mabel applying burnt cork mixed into petroleum jelly to her eyebrows and lashes after she singed them on the stove. The story goes on to describe how Tom Lyle created an eyelash and eyebrow preparation (using a chemistry set) and a business (after borrowing some money from his brother Noel). However, the product he eventually sold through mail-order was developed by Park-Davies not his chemistry set and the business used to sell it was called Maybell Laboratories not Maybelline.

Maybell Laboratories

The product Tom Lyle got from Park-Davis was a scented cream made of white petroleum with oils to provide sheen. He marketed it through his mail-order business as ‘Lash-Brow-Ine’ a name he selected because of its similarity with other eyelash and eyebrow products already on the market such as ‘Eye-Brow-Ine’ and ‘Lashneen’. The business he started to sell Lash-Brow-Ine he named Maybell Laboratories.

Tom Lyle called Lash-Brow-Ine an eyebrow and eyelash growth promoter. Applying Lash-Brow-Ine to eyelashes and eyebrows would have made them appear darker and thicker but would not have stimulated them to grow. However, a long held belief that oils and petrolatum would stimulate hair growth would have given his claim substance in the minds of many potential buyers. Clearly there was demand as sales reached over $100,000 by 1920.

Tom Lyle registered the name ‘Lash-Brow-Ine’ as a trademark in 1917 but by 1921 it was no longer used in advertising. It had been replaced with ‘Maybelline’, a word Tom Lyle reputedly created by combining his sister’s name (Mabel) with the ‘ine’ of Vaseline. The reason usually given for the change was that the original name proved to be a mouthful. However, this simple explanation is not the whole truth.

In 1920 Tom Lyle was taken to court to settle a trademark dispute with Benjamin Ansehl, the founder of ‘Lashbrow Laboratories’. The outcome of the case was that Maybell Laboratories trademark for Lash-Brow-Ine was invalidated and Tom Lyle was given a court order to remove and destroy any references to Lash-Brow-Ine from that day onward.

Lashbrow Laboratories

Lashbrow Laboratories was started by Benjamin Ansehl in St Louis in 1912. It also made an eyebrow and eyelash growth promoter marketed as ‘Lashbrow’. The similarity between the names Lashbrow and Lash-Brow-Ine was the cause of the trademark dispute.

According to court records Lashbrow consisted of petrolatum, beeswax and powdered willow charcoal. It may have been made to a recipe similar to the one given below:

Vaseline yellow 56
Beeswax 4
Lampblack 40

The mixture of ‘vaseline’ and beeswax is melted by being placed in a warm mortar, and the lampblack is well ground in. The preparation is stored in small pots.

Redgrove & Foan, 1930, pp. 67-68

‘Lashbrow’ was marketed as promoting the growth of eyebrows and eyelashes rather than as a mascara. The product sold well enough for Ansehl to extend sales at the end of 1912 to the rest of the United States through Meyer Bros., a wholesale drug company.

Maybelline

In 1917 Tom Lyle developed a new product for darkening and lengthening eyelashes he called ‘Maybelline’. This product was an early version of what would be later known as cake mascara although Williams did not refer to it as such. It was a mixture of sodium stearate soap and pigment mixed together, extruded into strips, stamped and dried and was applied with a small brush that was first wet before being rubbed over the cake.

Why did Williams call the new product ‘Maybelline’? This was a new line and perhaps after all ‘Lash-Brow-Ine’ was hard to say. However, cake mascara is not vaseline based so that part of the story cannot be true.

A name change

Williams advertised extensively, particularly in film magazines such as ‘Photoplay’. In 1920, while the court case was running, advertisements were taken out for Lash-Brow-Ine and Maybelline. In one version the two products are clearly differentiated by suggesting that Lash-Brow-Ine should be applied at night to ‘nourish and promote growth’, while Maybelline makes lashes and eyebrows ‘longer, thicker and more luxuriant’. However, the advertising copy for that year is not consistent and in another advertisement the two products appear to be equivalent:

Just a wee touch of the little brush over your eyelashes and eyebrows with Lash-Brow-Ine and you will find a new beauty in your eyes. For Maybelline instantly furnishes that delicate touch of darker color so necessary to eyelashes and eyebrows while they are gently invigorated by the little brush.

1920 Maybell Laboratories Advertisement - 1920 [September] Viola Dana endorsement for ‘Lash- Brow-Ine’ and ‘Maybelline’.

The lack of consistency in the advertising in 1920 probably reflects the uncertainty generated by the court case. However, it is clear that Lash-Brow-Ine was not renamed Maybelline simply because it was hard to say. Tom Lyle was probably hoping to maintain both products on the market as Lash-Brow-Ine had been a good earner and 1920 was not the best time to lose it. The world was in the middle of a post-war depression that would run through to 1922 so times were tough and as Maybelline was more expensive – it sold for 75 cents compared to 50 cents for Lash-Brow-Ine – there may have been concerns about potential sales. However, the court case forced Tom Lyle’s hand and Lash-Brow-Ine soon disappeared.

In 1923, Maybell Laboratories was renamed Maybelline and concentrated operations on eye make-up. The business flourished, helped by the continued use of extensive advertising and Tom Lyle’s shrewd use of actresses as role models. A liquid form of Maybelline was made available and sales of the “solid form” and “waterproof liquid form” of Maybelline did well, eventually finding their way onto the toilet counters of drug, variety and department stores.

See also Maybelline

19th April 2010

Sources

Poucher, W. A. (1932) Perfumes, cosmetics and soaps, Vols. 1-2 (4th ed.). London: Chapman and Hall.

Quirk, J. R. (1920) Photoplay magazine. Chicago, Ill.: Photoplay Publishing Co.

Redgrove, H. S. & Foan, G. A. (1930). Paint, powder and patches: A handbook of make-up for stage and carnival. London: William Heinemann.

The United States Trade-Mark Association. (1921). The trade-mark reporter. Volume 10. New York: Author.

Williams, S. & Youngs, B. (2010). The Maybelline story and the spirited family dynasty behind it. Florida: Bettie Youngs Books Publishing.

1920 [April-May] Ethyl Clayton endorsement for ‘Lash-Brow-Ine’.1920 [December] Ethyl Clayton endorsement Lash-Brow-Ine and other cosmetics. Note the Maybelline box in the background and the interchange of Lash-Brow-Ine and Maybelline in the copy.

Copyright © 2011 James Bennett

email: cosmeticsandskin@gmail.com

Vogues in beauty come and go then crop up again in the never-ceasing search for something new.

—G. Vail (1947)

email: cosmeticsandskin@gmail.com

NICHE MAGAZINE'S Scrumptious Spring Issue features author Sharrie Williams column.

2013-03-27T11:27:00.001-07:00

NICHE Magazine delivers spring in a big way. From our one-on-one interview with Canada’s original supermodel Tricia Helfer, to our exclusive Bride Reinvented fashion shoot at the Empress Hotel, and our expose on fashion legend, Vera Wang – this issue is all about unexpected beauty! We travel to Paris, France delight in the bubbles of good champagne, and report on seasonal fashion from top designers including Saint Laurent, DVF, Victoria Beckham, Philip Lim and Preen. Beauty this season is all about the lashes and very pretty in pink! Steal away with NICHE to a deserted beach in Greece with a notorious secret, and update your home with our easy to apply home decor tips and tricks.

VIEW THE MAGAZINE IN FULL BY Clicking NICHE MAGAZINE...

click box on the right side of screen for full view.

MAYBELLINE HISTORY BY JAMES BENNETT FOR COSMETICS AND SKIN

2013-03-25T09:55:00.001-07:00

The rise of Maybelline from a small mail-order firm to a global cosmetics business is impressive. Despite the fact that the company is now called Maybelline New York, its early fortunes, like those of Max Factor and the Westmore Brothers, were tied with the growing motion picture business in California.

Tom Lyle Williams

Known by those close to him as Tom Lyle, the founder of Maybelline was entrepreneurial, hard working, prepared to take advice and loyal to friends and family. His good looks and ability to get on with people were undoubtedly of great assistance. In 1912, aged 16, he moved from Morganfield, Illinois to Chicago and got a job with Montgomery Ward, a long running mail-order catalogue business. After experimenting on his own with a variety of mail-order ventures he left Montgomery Ward in 1914 to concentrate on his own business. By then he had already met and started a long-term relationship with Emery Shaver [1903-1964] who joined him in the venture. The following year he wired his sister Mabel to come to Chicago to help with the business.

Maybell Laboratories

In 1915 Tom Lyle watched his sister Mabel fix her singed eyebrows using a mixture of Vaseline, ash and coal dust, a trick she apparently got from ‘Photoplay’ magazine. Seeing an opportunity for a product to sell through his mail-order business he used a chemistry set to produce a mixture containing petrolatum (Vaseline), carbon black, cottonseed oil, and safflower oil that he hoped he could sell. Unfortunately, when Mabel applied it to her lashes it ran into her eyes and stung them badly.

Undaunted, Tom Lyle sought professional advice and commissioned Parke-Davis, a wholesale drug manufacturer, to make a suitable product for sale. The result was a scented cream consisting of refined white petrolatum along with several oils to add sheen. It did not contain any colouring agent but it seemed to ‘brighten the eyes’ (Williams & Youngs, 2010, p. 22). He called the product ‘Lash-Brow-Ine’, selecting the name partly because of its similarity with other eyelash and eyebrow products already on the market; a decision that would result in difficulties later.

Lash-Brow-Ine was to be packed into small aluminium containers and sold through mail-order in two sizes, at fifty cents and one dollar. Using money he got from his brother Noel to get this new venture off the ground, Tom Lyle acquired product and packaging and placed an advertisement for Lash-Brow-Ine in ‘Photoplay’ in 1916. As cash came in, it was used to place advertisements in other magazines such as the ‘Pictorial Review’, the ‘Deliniator’, and the ‘Saturday Evening Post’ and so the business grew (Williams & Youngs, 2010, p. 25).

Right: 1916 The first advertisement placed for Lash-Brow-Ine in Photoplay magazine.

Advertising for the Lash-Brow-Ine claimed that it ‘nourished and promoted the growth of eyelashes and eyebrows’. Tom Lyle was canny enough to suggest that you needed to use “two to three small boxes before any marked improvement is noted”, thereby ensuring a number of sales before dissatisfaction might set in. Pamphlet material that came with the product also suggested it could be used to cure baldness. Although we would now consider these claims to be untrue, at the time it was commonly believed that substances like Vaseline, olive oil and lanolin would stimulate hair growth.

How to use “LASH-BROW-INE”
Take a little “LASH-BROW-INE” on the tip of the finger and rub gently over the Brows and Lashes, always rubbing in the direction in which the hair grows. Be sure to rub well into the roots, and then take a soft cloth and wipe around the Brows and Lashes, leaving the “LASH-BROW-INE” only where you wish the hair to grow. To produce the very best results the very tip end of the Lashes should be clipped every two months. The clipping should be done by another person, using small manicure scissors, so as only to clip the tip ends. The Eyebrows should never be clipped.

(Lash-Brow-Ine pamphlet.)

Maybelline

In 1917, again with the assistance of Parke-Davis, Maybell Laboratories began production and sale of a cake eyelash and eyebrow beautifier. The exact composition of this product is unknown but it was most likely a sodium stearate based cake mascara known earlier also as ‘water cosmetique’ or ‘mascaro’.

Mascara

Maybelline introduced eye shadow and eyeliner to their product lines in 1929. This meant that the original Maybelline was now only for eyelashes and it was renamed ‘Maybelline Eyelash Darkener’ and then reformulated in 1931. In 1933 ‘eyelash darkener’ began to be referred to as mascara, a process that was completed by 1935. This was rather late in the day as Helena Rubinstein, Dorothy Gray, Marie Earle and others had been using the term for years. The adoption of mascara by Maybelline may have been to help separate its products from those associated with the ‘Lash Lure’ dye scandal of 1933.

For absolute safety in darkening your lashes use genuine, harmless Maybelline.
Non-smarting, tear-proof Maybelline is NOT a DYE, but a pure and highly refined mascara for instantly darkening and beautifying the eyelashes.
For over sixteen years millions of women have used Maybelline mascara with perfect safety and most gratifying results

(Maybelline advertisement, 1934)

Respectability and quality

The early 1930s was a difficult time for Maybelline but from adversity came strength. American production of toiletries and cosmetics declined from $193 million in 1929 to $97 million in 1933 and the number of companies almost halved from 815 to 490 (Jones, 2010, p. 109). The companies most at risk were those at the lower, mass-market end, which included Maybelline. As well as the general economic difficulties caused by the depression, eye make-up came under attack because of its associations with flappers and the perceived immorality of the movie industry of the 1920s. Then in 1933 the Lash Lure scandal caused a temporary sales drop in all mascaras.

In 1931, in an attempt to improve sales, Maybelline introduced a ten-cent trial ‘purse size’ that could be ordered through a mail-coupon. This was so successful that it was eventually made available through point of sale outlets as well. Moves were also made to improve sales distribution, particularly outside of the Chicago area, and packaging and display cartons were redesigned to make them more visible.

The use of movie stars remained an important part of the Maybelline advertising strategy but, in the 1930s, endorsements were more sober in tone and there was an increased use of models rather than actresses in the before and after shots. This reflected the position of the motion picture industry which adopted self-censorship in 1934 in the form of the Production Code. In that year Maybelline added radio to its advertising arsenal when ‘The Maybelline Hour’ began broadcasting on WFNT out of Chicago (Williams & Youngs, 2010, p. 134).

Maybelline, along with a number of other mascaras, received favourable reports in the widely read book ‘Skin deep: The truth about beauty aids‘ published in 1934. However, given that the Lash Lure scare of 1933 had hurt sales, Maybelline sought to protect itself from questions regarding the quality of its products by obtaining the ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval’ which was placed prominently in most advertisements for the rest of the decade. Phrases like ‘contains no dye’, ‘absolutely harmless’ and ‘perfect safety’ were also inserted liberally in advertising copy.

Product packaging was also upgraded as part of the drive towards associating Maybelline with quality. Gold metal vanity cases were introduced for the solid mascara and in 1936 a new cream mascara was introduced in dainty zipper bags; the liquid mascara seems to have disappeared from the product line at the same time. These upgrades in products and packaging and the more sober tone in advertising were to make Maybelline products more acceptable to middle America and the department stores in which many of them now made their cosmetic purchases. Given that the 1934 cosmetic survey by ‘Woman’s Home Companion’ did not include eyeshadow, mascara and eye pencil as they were not considered important, anything that fostered sales to middle America would be to the company’s benefit.

Maybelline’s fortunes were dramatically improved when Harold Ragland joined the company in 1933 and assumed control of sales and promotion. Under his more professional direction the company closed down the mail-order business, fixed many of its distribution problems and opened up new avenues for sales through chain and department stores. Ragland also made the ten-cent ‘purse size’ more widely available and introduced a new form of display card that could be hung prominently to attract the customer’s attention. The original cards used an image of the Maybell Girl but these were soon replaced thereby closing the last symbolic links with the old Maybell Laboratories.

Above: One of the original display cards introduced by Harold Ragland. The Maybell girl was soon replaced with a more contemporary image. The eye shadow product is missing.

By 1934 the cash flow was strong enough to allow Tom Lyle to start buying up other mascara businesses as they came on the market, thereby solidifying Maybelline‘s dominance in eye make-up in the American market. The 1930s also saw Maybelline expand into Canada and Europe (Williams & Youngs, 2010, p. 260). South America was added after the war and other countries followed giving Maybelline a global reach. At home, although there was increased competition from the majors, figures indicated that Maybelline still had about 75% of the American mascara market in 1947.

Corporatisation and sale

After its incorporation in 1954 the company saw two decades of continuous growth and expansion, with sales reaching $25 million in 1966 (Williams & Young, 2010, p. 304). During this time the company remained firmly fixed on eye products, including mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, eyebrow pencils, eyelash curlers and eyebrow tweezers.

In 1958, following Helena Rubinstein’s introduction of ‘Mascara-matic’, Maybelline introduced its own wand mascara with a spiral brush, ‘Magic Mascara’. Also introduced were new self-sharpening eyeliner/eyebrow pencils and stick eye shadow. The new mascara wands would result in the decline of cake and cream forms and in 1963 Maybelline released ‘Ultra-lash’ mascara, followed soon after by ‘Ultra-Brow’, ‘Ultra-Line’, and ‘Ultra-Shadow’.

In 1967 Tom Lyle reached the age of seventy and was ready to sell. After turning down bids by Revlon and Schick he sold the company to Plough for just over $130 million in stock. The business remained named Maybelline through the merger of Plough with Scherling and the sale of Maybelline to the Wasserstein Perella investor group but it was renamed ‘Maybelline New York’ in 2001 by its current owners L’Oréal, USA.

Timeline

1915	Maybell Laboratories founded to make Lash-Brow-Ine.
1916	Advertising in Photoplay magazine begins.
1917	First real model used in advertising.
1917	Maybelline Cake eyelash and eyebrow make-up released.
1923	Maybell Laboratories renamed Maybelline.
1924	Maybelline moves to new headquarters in North Ridge Avenue Chicago.
1925	Waterproof Liquid Maybelline eye make-up introduced.
1929	Eyebrow Pencils (black and brown) and Eyeshadow(blue, black, brown and green) introduced into the product line.
1930	Violet colour added to eyeshadows.
1931	Maybelline introduces new formulation for cake eyelash darkener.
1932	10-cent mascara created for drug and variety stores.
1933	Maybelline begins to be sold direct to stores outside of the Chicago area. Mail-order began to be closed down.
1933	First use of the word mascara in Maybelline advertising.
1934	Blue colour added to mascara.
1934	The Maybelline Hour radio show starts on WFNT Chicago.
1936	Cream mascara in a waterproof zipper case released.
1951	Emerald Green mascara introduced.
1951	First TV advertising by Maybelline.
1954	Maybelline incorporated.
1955	Antiwrinkle Eye Cream introduced (withdrawn the following year).
1957	Self sharpening eyebrow and eyeliner pencil introduced.
1958	Magic Mascara with a spiral brush introduced.
1961	Fluid Eye Liner introduced.
1963	Ultra-Lash released, followed soon after by Ultra-Brow,Ultra-Line, and Ultra-Shadow.
1967	Natural Hair Lashes introduced.
1967	Maybelline acquired by Plough.
1971	Great Lash, a water-based mascara, is introduced to replace Ultra Lash.
1983	Shine Free Oil Control make-up line featuring non-comedogenic formulas introduced.
1990	Maybelline acquired by Wasserstein Perella & Co.
1991	“Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline” advertising tagline created.
1996	Maybelline acquired by L’Oréal USA.
2001	Maybelline becomes Maybelline New York.

Sources

Jones, G. (2010). Beauty imagined: A history of the global beauty industry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

deNavarre, M. G. (1941). The chemistry and manufacture of cosmetics. Boston: D Van Nostrand Company.

Phillips, M. C. (1934). Skin deep: The truth about beauty aids. New York: Garden City Publishing.

Poucher, W. A. (1932). Perfumes, cosmetics and soaps, Vols. 1-2(4th ed.). London: Chapman and Hall.

Sharrie Williams. (2011, September). Retrieved September 3, 2011, from http://www.maybellinebook.com/

Williams, S. & Youngs, B. (2010). The Maybelline story and the spirited family dynasty behind it. Florida: Bettie Youngs Books Publishing.

REVIEW.....Maybelline Story reads like the best fiction but with real characters and plots that take us on an American dream wild ride.

2013-03-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

From the Midwest through Chicago and Hollywood, we follow a path strewn with scandals, jealousies, triangles and betrayals. Throw in arson, a still-unsolved murder and even the Feds and Mafia and you have an exciting and bumpy journey that leaves more than one casualty in its wake. And Maybelline was along for the ride.

The characters seem larger-than-life yet somehow remain vulnerable and sympathetic This is a family that continually grasped at the shiny ring only to discover that it might be no more than their own reflections staring back, sometimes accusingly, in the mirror.

The legacy is in good hands with Ms. Williams. She's a true storyteller and writes with passion and candor while bluntly sharing her own resolve to rise above her

family's lifelong mantra of money, beauty and the search for perfection. It's a critical but tender tale of redemption that displays an understanding, compassion and love for her family. She never gave up on her dream to tell this story and literally braved fire and fury to share it with the world. It's a book that you really can't put down, a true page-turner and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

You'll never look at a Maybelline ad again without feeling a tug of empathy for these characters and the struggles and determination of one man's effort to capture beauty on a brush and change forever the color palette of the world. Amazon.com