1943
- Executive Secretary to Noel and Tom Lyle Williams, Dorothy Mullander,
stands in front of the Maybelline Company's famous Maybelline logo on
the double doors leading into the Maybelline building. The Maybelline
building was two stories with a basement and three apartments for family
members who just got married and were getting on their feet. The
packaging and distribution center was also located in the basement. The
first floor held offices for various secretaries and other workers and
the walls were filled with pictures of movie stars who modeled for
Maybelline in the pages of world wind magazines. The second
floor contained the executive offices for Noel, Tom Lyle, Tom Jr and
Rags Ragland. The Maybelline Building was located at 5900 Ridge Ave, at
Ridge and Clark, in the heart of down town Chicago where much of The Maybelline Story takes place during the gangster ridden era of prohibition.
When
Maybelline was sold, each employee was given $1,000 for each year they
worked at Maybelline. Even those who hadn't been there a full year got
$1,000. Uncle Lyle's secretary Dorothy (aka Ducky) ended up with
something like $35,000 as did another secretary called Jimmie. Jimmie
called Mable to ask her to relay to TL how grateful was that she could
retire after she got her $30,000 check. At the time my parents had a
bookstore and a former employee came in and told them he was bowled over
to receive $8,000.
Tom Lyle, Jr. inherited his father's shyness. Mable's daughter Shirley worked summers at Maybelline and she said every morning TL Jr. walked briskly to his private office, said a brief hello to everyone and no one saw him again until the end of the day. On the other hand, Noel kept up with all the employees' and their families. The women who worked there loved him dearly and called him Unky.
When Tom Lyle died, his niece Shirley got a phone call from TL, Jr.'s lawyer. He said Tom Lyle Jr. was too shy to go downtown to meet with the executor and lawyers and asked Shirley to do it. She went downtown to explain all the family members and their relationships to the family. Good thing she had and still has an excellent memory. (Memories from Mable's daughters, Shirley and Joyce, and her granddaughters, Donna and Linda, who still live in Chicago.
TL left a big portion of his estate to the Salvation Army. For many years he rented them space in the Maybelline building for $1 annually.
If you enjoyed HBO's Mildred Pierce with it's Hollywood era of the 1930's and 1940's, you will go nuts over The Maybelline Story.
Outside the Maybelline Building 1934. |
Tom Lyle, Jr. inherited his father's shyness. Mable's daughter Shirley worked summers at Maybelline and she said every morning TL Jr. walked briskly to his private office, said a brief hello to everyone and no one saw him again until the end of the day. On the other hand, Noel kept up with all the employees' and their families. The women who worked there loved him dearly and called him Unky.
When Tom Lyle died, his niece Shirley got a phone call from TL, Jr.'s lawyer. He said Tom Lyle Jr. was too shy to go downtown to meet with the executor and lawyers and asked Shirley to do it. She went downtown to explain all the family members and their relationships to the family. Good thing she had and still has an excellent memory. (Memories from Mable's daughters, Shirley and Joyce, and her granddaughters, Donna and Linda, who still live in Chicago.
Tom Lyle Williams at his home in Bel Air, after the sale of his Maybelline Company in 1968 |
TL left a big portion of his estate to the Salvation Army. For many years he rented them space in the Maybelline building for $1 annually.
If you enjoyed HBO's Mildred Pierce with it's Hollywood era of the 1930's and 1940's, you will go nuts over The Maybelline Story.
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