Noel James Williams, Tom Lyle Williams’ older brother, played a pivotal role in the founding and growth of the Maybelline Company.

Noel James and Frances Allen Williams 1916.

In 1915, when Tom Lyle needed startup capital to launch his mail-order cosmetics venture, Noel provided a critical $500 loan—money he’d saved to marry his childhood sweetheart, Frances Allen. This investment kickstarted Maybelline, and Tom Lyle repaid it within a year, allowing Noel and Frances to wed in 1916. In gratitude, Tom Lyle made Noel vice president of the company, a position he held for life.

Noel was the steady hand to Tom Lyle’s visionary flair. Based in Chicago, where Maybelline was headquartered, Noel managed day-to-day operations while Tom Lyle focused on advertising and expansion, often from his Hollywood base after the 1930s. Noel’s role emphasized stability and responsibility—he ran a tight ship, overseeing the company’s logistics and administration. Family was inseparable from the business for him; he lived near the Maybelline warehouse early on and later moved to a suburban executive home as the company grew. His meticulous nature ensured the company’s operational backbone held firm as it scaled into a national success.

By 1935, Noel and Frances had four kids, Helen, Annette Allen and Richard. Balancing

family life with his executive duties. He worked alongside other relatives, like brother-in-law Ches Haines in transportation, keeping Maybelline a family affair. Even as Tom Lyle innovated with movie-star endorsements and new products, Noel’s grounded leadership in Chicago kept the company humming—crucial to its rise as a cosmetics giant before Tom Lyle sold it in 1967. Sharrie Williams, Noel’s great-niece, often highlights his foundational support and quiet strength as key to Maybelline’s enduring legacy

Try this homemade rich, decedent, dark chocolate extravaganza,

Eva, Frances, (the Bride,) Tom Lyle,  Noel James, (the Groom, in the shadows,) Bennie and my grandfather, Preston - Chicago, 1917

Try Frances'homemade rich, decedent, dark chocolate extravaganza

(The ad on these video's are not an expression of my Political views, they are placed by YouTube)






3 – 8 oz packages of Bakers German sweet chocolate
3 eggs
1 pint whipping cream
1 ¼ Tbsp. Vanilla
3 Tbsp. Powdered sugar
2 boxes of Social Tea Biscuits
Melt chocolate in double boiler.
Separate eggs, beat yolks with sugar,
Beat egg whites and add-
Add vanilla.
Add ½ pint whipped cream, (save ½ pint for topping.)
Line loaf pan with cookies.
Add layer of chocolate mixture.
Continue layering cookies and chocolate mixture, ending with chocolate.
Store in refrigerator and slice and serve with whipped cream.


 if you want to know about the Bride, who waited a year, for the sake of Maybelline, read The Maybelline Story soon.

Four Generations of Beautiful Maybelline Brides

Maybelline featured a Bride and Groom, in this charming 1943 World War ll ad. Here is a gallery of four generations of Maybelline weddings in the Noel J. Williams line of the family

Mr. and Mrs. John B, Clark, (Kelly Brown) recently married in Colorado.  They  carry on the tradition of beautiful weddings set nearly 100 years ago.

John's mother, Nancy Williams Clark, at her wedding in California, 1976, carried the elegance set by her mother in the 1940's.

John's grandparents, Mr. and Mr. Noel Allen Williams at their wedding in Chicago, 1949. Noel and Jean were married for  over 45 years.

 

John's great grandparents, Noel James Williams and Frances Allen married in 1916, in Morganfield Kentucky.

Noel was one of the original founders of the Maybelline Company, along with his brother Tom Lyle Williams and their sister and namesake Mabel Williams in 1915.

Read more about the Williams family in "The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It"

Helen Frances Williams, first little Princess born into the Maybelline Family, 1918

Helen Frances Williams (Huber,) was the first child born to Noel and Frances Williams on May 31, 1918.  The first baby girl born into the Maybelline Family she was a  little Princess while Tom Lyle's son Tom Jr certainly was it's Prince.  It was Helen's father Noel who loaned his brother Tom Lyle $500 to launch  Maybel Laboratories in 1915.   Noel was Vice President of the Chicago based company from 1917 until his death in 1951.

Helen was the only member of the Maybelline family who modeled for a Maybelline Ad before marrying and having a large family. Her beautiful deep set eye's were perfect for showing off Maybelline mascara and eye shadow during the late 1930s ,when Hollywood stars still insisted on glamor at all cost.  Helen was not only glamorous she was a natural beauty inside and out.

Very few members of the family actually worked for the Maybelline company and because of this there was no one prepared to carry on after Tom Lyle sold Maybelline in 1967 to Plough Inc.  At that time Tom Lyle and Tom Jr. could no longer handle the stress of a growing cosmetic company that continued to out sell every other eye make up on the market.

Read more about Noel and Frances and their role in the birth of the Maybelline Co., as well as their 4 children, Helen, Annette, Noel, and Dick Williams, in the Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It. 

Vintage Merry Christmas 1943 during WW11

Christmas poker game with Noel J,  Dick,  Neppy, Frances and antie Ida, (Frances sister.) Chicago.
Click on pictures to enlarge!!!!

  

Noel J, with two of his four children, 23 year old,
 Neppy and 11 year old Dick Williams.

 

Dick Williams, playing with one of his Christmas presents, a toy, WW ll, bomber plane.  Dick was fascinated with speed and was the first kid in school, to have a motorcycle, when he was only 14 years old.  

In January, I will be posting more about Dick Williams and the beautifulExcalibur's, he collected after the sale of the Maybelline Co. during the 1970s.

A tribute to Noel James Williams, and his monumental contribution to Maybelline's success, between 1915 and 1950.

Noel was the second son born to TJ and Susan Williams and he like the rest of the Williams kids had plans of his own that didn't include working a farm.  He fell in love with his childhood sweetheart Frances Allen and planned to earn the money to marry her while she was in her first year of college.  There was no way to earn money in Morganfield Kentucky so he moved to Chicago where he found employment with the railroads as a bookkeeper.

You'll have to read The Maybelline Story for the whole story but in a nutshell his younger brother Tom Lyle also joined him in Chicago, followed by sister Mabel and the three of them helped build Tom Lyle's budding mail order business.   If you've been following my blog you have an idea of the magnitude this major event meant to the Williams family and eventually the world.  However when Tom Lyle needed the money to launch Maybelline, he turned to his brother Noel who had saved $500 to marry Frances.  The rest is history, but to honor Noel for believing him him Tom Lyle made his older brother Vice President of the Maybelline Company, a position he held for the rest of his life. 

Tom Lyle paid  the $500 back one year later and on Nov 8th 1916 Noel and Frances were married.  Here is a picture of Noel and Frances soon after the wedding standing in front of Tom Lyle's convertible Page in Chicago's heavy snow. 

Noel and Frances moved into an apartment down the street from the Maybelline warehouse while the rest of the Williams family lived together in the apartment above it.  Noel and Tom Lyle were the driving force behind the little budding cosmetic company and together they made an unbeatable team.

 Here is the whole Williams Clan in Chicago after Noel and Frances first baby, Helen Frances was born May 31, 1918.  

Right to Left we see Proud Papa Noel looking at Frances in awe with his father TJ behind, holding baby Helen.  Next in the picture is Mabel, Preston in a Navel uniform,  Susan (their mother,) with her arm around Eva.  (not sure who the girl with the long curls is.)  

By 1935 Noel and Frances had four children.   In this picture we see left to right, Annette, Helen, Noel, Dick, Frances and Noel Allen.  Family came first for Noel Williams followed by Maybelline, in fact it was hard to separate the two because Maybelline was  family and family was  Maybelline.   Noel represented stability, responsibility and propriety to the the highest level.  With him at the helm of Maybelline's ship Tom Lyle concentrated on what he did best Advertising and since he spent most of his time at the Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills, he depended on Noel's ability to run a tight ship at the Maybelline Company in Chicago.

After 30 years living in a brownstone not far from the Maybelline Company in Chicago, Noel and his family moved to the suburbs into a large custom home fit for an executive.  He was 55 years old and the little company he believed in and supported with his wedding money proved to be one of America's biggest success stories - and still is today after almost 100 years.  In this picture left to right, we see Ches Haines, Eva's husband head of transportation for the company, (not sure who second man is,) than Noel's youngest son Dick, his son Noel Allen, Noel, and Rags Ragland the marketing genius Tom Lyle hired in 1933 and the only person outside the family to work for the Maybelline company.

Noel and Frances' son Noel Allen's wedding Feb 12, 1949. Left to right, mother of the bride Alberta Kilroy, Noel and Frances, Father of the bride, Charles Thomas Kilroy, Jean (Kilroy) Williams, Noel Allen and Jean's girlfriends as maid of honor and bridesmaids. On November 23, 1949, Charles Allen Williams, (Chuck,) was born while Noel Allen and Jean were living in one of the apartments in the  Maybelline building.

This picture of Noel outside the Maybelline Building at 900 Ridge and Clark in Chicago shows a man meticulous in every way.  He's such a stunning example of the quintessential executive with his overcoat, hat and briefcase under his are, that the man walking down the street had to do a double take.  Noel never took a day off from work in the 36 years he ran the Maybelline Company. It was only after a heart attack shortly after his sons wedding, that Tom Lyle insisted he take time off and visit him at his new estate in Bel Air California.  

Here is one of the last pictures of Noel and Frances - at Tom Lyle's ultra modern stone and glass estate in Bel Air -before Noels death the following year in 1951.

Tom Lyle Williams with his older brother Noel, founded the Maybelline Company, and at Noel's death it was said the Noel was the Maybelline Company.  We sure know that without him there certainly wouldn't have been a Maybelline Company.  

Tom Lyle had a great idea, given to him by his sister Mabel, but without the capitol to launch it, and the devotion to run it, Maybelline might have remained just a good Idea.

Read more about Noel and the building of an empire in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Behind It.

I'm proud of my roots in Morganfield Kentucky, where Maybelline got it's start.

In all the research I did for The Maybelline Story,

 I found our family had quite a romantic past

My great grandmother, Susan Anna Alvey.  This picture was taken in 1877 when she was only 16 years of age and considered a great beauty. 

My great grandfather, Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Williams, was the local tax collector, and fearless when it came to doing the right thing. 

Susan Anna Alvey Williams, and Sheriff TJ, had six children, the most famous being Tom Lyle Williams, owner of the Maybelline Company.  When she died of the great flu in 1919, Sheriff TJ, kept the books for Tom Lyle during the early years of Lash -Brow-Ine, and Maybelline. 

My grandfather Preston and his little sister Eva, 1909.

The 500 acre family farm and homestead was over 100 years old by the time the Williams kids were born, and by 1916, the farm was sold, so the family could move to Chicago and help Tom Lyle with his little Maybelline Company.

TJ and Anna's third grandchild, and their son, Noel James and Frances Williams second child, Annette Williams, plays with the chickens in Morganfield.

The country story included the local post office, photography studio, soda fountain, and supply store. it even acted as a saloon, before Prohibition was passed in 1920.

Noel James', wife Frances, with their two girls, Helen and Annette, in Morganfield.  The family, now living in Chicago, worked for Tom Lyle and his Maybelline Company. 

Little Helen, with the chickens in Morganfield.

                   Little Annette in the chicken coop.

Sheriff TJ with his fourth grandchild, my father William Preston Williams, in 1924.  

Sheriff Thomas Jefferson with his son, Tom Lyle Williams, and his first grandchild, Tom Lyle Williams Jr. in Chicago, 1934.


Read more about Morganfield and the early days of Maybelline in my book The Maybelline Story.

Frances Williams - Grande Dame, in the Maybelline family.

When Tom Lyle asked Noel and Frances, if they'd postpone their Wedding for one year and give him the $500 saved for their big occasion, It was Frances who made the final call. 

Second from the left, Frances and her girlfriends were excited about the upcoming Wedding plans, when she got a letter from her fiance with the big question.  Tom Lyle needs the money I've saved for our wedding, what should we do?  When Frances tried her future brother-in- law's product, she agreed to wait another year.

The Bride a Groom not only received the $500 back, exactly one year later, Tom Lyle gave them a new car for a wedding gift and made Noel, Vice President of the Maybelline Company in 1917.

A year and a half later, Baby Helen, was born with a secure childhood waiting for her, because her mother  waited a little bit longer to start her married life.

Neppy, Helen, Noel J., Dick, Frances, Noel A., 1936.

Four children later, Frances became the matriarch of her family and the Grande Dame, in Maybelline hierarchy. Standing as a pillar in the foundation of an Empire she helped launch. 

Try Frances' - Chocolate Icebox Dessert, aka, Bavarian Chocolate, Gourmet Chocolate Lover's Dream and taste her stamp of excellence. Check favorite recepies tab.

Check in this weekend as Bill's Clenet begins his trek up the Southern California Coastline, to Santa Barbara, for his big appearance at the Santa Barbara Concours D' Elegance.

Maybelline Princess turns out to be Maybelline model in late 1930's.

Helen Frances Williams (Huber,) was the first child born to Noel and Frances Williams on May 31, 1918.  The first baby girl born into the Maybelline Family she was a  little Princess while Tom Lyle's son Tom Jr certainly was it's Prince.  It was Helen's father Noel who loaned his brother Tom Lyle $500 to launch  Maybel Laboratories in 1915.   Noel was Vice President of the Chicago based company from 1917 until his death in 1951.

Helen was the only member of the Maybelline family who modeled for a Maybelline Ad before marrying and having a large family. Her beautiful deep set eye's were perfect for showing off Maybelline mascara and eye shadow during the late 1930s ,when Hollywood stars still insisted on glamour at all cost.  Helen was not only glamorous she was a natural beauty inside and out.

Very few members of the family actually worked for the Maybelline company and because of this there was no one prepared to carry on after Tom Lyle sold Maybelline in 1967 to Plough Inc.  At that time Tom Lyle and Tom Jr. could no longer handle the stress of a growing cosmetic company that continued to out sell every other eye make up on the market.

Read more about Noel and Frances and their role in the birth of the Maybelline Co., as well as their 4 children, Helen, Annette, Noel, and Dick Williams, in the Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.