Maybelline's final Matriarch.

Tom Lyle and his sister Eva Williams-Haines, were the last remaining siblings out of the original six Williams Children.  Here is a letter from TL, to Eva, one year exactly, before his death in 1976.

TL and Eva, 10 years before his death.

Thomas Lyle Williams

900 Airole Way, Bel Air

Los Angeles, California, 90034

September 27, 1975

Dear Sneeve:

Notice the cute nick names TL and Eva, have for each other, and the way he signs his name, Tommy Lyle.  TL, remained devoted to his family until the end of his life. 

Eva carried on the Williams family tradition, as the final Maybelline Matriarch, and was a close confidant of mine, during my quest, to write The Maybelline Story.

Read more about Eva, TL and the rest of the Williams family in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.  Get your signed copy of The Maybelline Story at www.maybellinestory.com for the Holiday's.

The decline of an era, gone with the wind.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways.



Tom Lyle Williams at 70 years of age.

 As handsome and glamorous, as always, Tom Lyle, carried on another 10 years alone, before his death in 1976. 

Life without Emery, left a void in TL's heart, that could never be filled.  The luster, spark and joy, they shared for over 45 years, was now extinguished, but the memories  of those magical Maybelline days, remained a kind compensation. 

Read about the magic between Tom Lyle and Emery, in The Maybelline Story.

Signed copies available for Holiday gifts at www.maybelinestory.com  

$100,000,000 given to CARE and Salvation Army by Maybelline founder.

The Tom Lyle Williams Foundation, still gives to charity, 43 years after the sale of the Maybelline Company.

Tom Lyle Williams, with his niece Annette Williams-Corbett, in 1968, after the sale of the Maybelline Company.  Like her uncle, Annette believed in preserving her new wealth through non-profit foundations.  She worked as a secretary for the Maybelline Company before marrying George Corbett in the late 1940's and continued to have a unique relationship wih her boss (and uncle,) incorporating his values throughout her long life.  Tom Lyle believed that the more he gave to others, the more came back to him, 10 fold.  "Don't lend money if you can't afford to give it, with no expectation of return," was a statement he lived by his entire life.  His fondation still gives and lives on today helping those in need.

Read more about Tom Lyle and his unusual generosity  in The Maybelline Story.  Also we still have a few Tama Bags and Maybelline book, at http://www.maybellinebook.com/ for $50.  A good portion of profit from the bag and book goes to Instruments 4 Africa to help young girls in Mali, West Africa, have the opportunity gain an education. 

ULTRA LASH IS BORN IN 1964.



 

In 1964 Ultra Lash became the most popular mascara in the world.                                                                                                       

17 and coming into my own identity.

1964 was a turning point, as far as kids my age

were concerned, partly because the Beatles brought in such a huge English influence. 

My great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, was concerned foreign markets targeting youth, might overtake Maybelline's position someday.              

Maybelline had controlled 75% of the eye beauty market for over 50 years, and was the only eye make up allowed behind the Iron Curtain, but without Emery, Unk Ile decided to sell the company.

                                                         

It would take years to find a buyer willing to pay the asking price, but he decided to put the word out.           

So what happened?  Well that would be giving away the Maybelline Story wouldn't it!!  Find out by ordering your copy today.                                                                             

Maybelline in a time of innocence.

"Remember, for purity and complete confidence in your eye make-up, insist on Maybelline."

Maybelline Ad before the product line changed in 1964.

My sweet little sister, Billee Rae Williams, on the right, at her First Communion in 1964.

 Top left, my sister Donna,  me, my cousin Nancy.
Bottom left, Cousin Chuck, (aka BB1,) holding my brother Preston, my sister Billee and cousin Jimmy.


In 1964 it was still a time of purity and innocence in America. Some say the 1950's didn't end until 1965.

After  President John F. Kennedy was killed in November of 1963, changes began to take place at a rapid pace.

Read more about the Maybelline Family and the radical changes that catapulted them into a new life, good, bad or indifferent. 

Here is what my sister Billee is up to today, http://www.maybellinebook.com/2013/12/shape-up-with-dancing-with-stars-karina.html

Here's what Chuck Williams is up to today,  http://www.maybellinebook.com/2014/01/maybelline-heir-chuck-williams-carries.html

Be sure to visit my 1964 Saffrons Rule Blog, taken directly from my personal diary at http://saffronsrule.com/

1964 PBS

1964 was the year the Beatles came to America, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, and three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. It was the year when Berkeley students rose up in protest, African Americans fought back against injustice in Harlem, and Barry Goldwater’s conservative revolution took over the Republican Party. In myriad ways, 1964 was the year when Americans faced choices: between the liberalism of Lyndon Johnson or Barry Goldwater’s grassroots conservatism, between support or opposition to the civil rights movement, between an embrace of the emerging counterculture or a defense of traditional values.

Audrey Hepburn's Maybelline Eyes in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Maybelline introduced Fluid Eye Liner in 1961

The tools in every woman's makeup bag now included the most sophisticated products Maybelline had ever created, including, Magic Mascara with it's own self contained Sprial Brush, Self-Sharpener Eyebrow Pencil, Iridescent Eye Shadow (in a tube like lipstick,) and now Fluid Eye Liner.

Check out Audrey Hepburn's Maybelline Eyes, in Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961.  See how the makeup artist used Eye Liner, Shadow, Pencil and Mascara to create the New Look of the 60's. 

Read more about Maybelline's tremendous success in the 1960's, in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

 Purchase a signed copy from maybellinestore.com

Maybelline's Teenage Diva in the 1960's.

Maybelline ad's in the 1960's, were seen more in fashion magazines, than movie magazines, and a new target market emerged as teenage Boomer's discovered  glamour and their own style.

Maybelline's new eye shadow stick was a big hit in 1960 and came in 5 iridescent, jewel-tone shades for $1.  When I turned 13 in 1960 my mother and Nana gave me a makeup bag for my Birthday,  filled with all the Maybelline products seen in this ad.  Of course I didn't wear it to school, but I felt very grown up knowing I had my own makeup and a pair of low heal, high heals, ready to go, if the time ever came when I might need them. 

Sharrie Williams at 13, with a  little Maybelline on my lashes.

When I was a teenager, being a Fashion Diva was the key to finding the perfect guy and having a perfect life.  So did it happen?  Yes and no.   But you'll have to read The Maybelline Story to find out. 

Stay tuned for more 60's lore all this week.  Tell your Fashion Diva friends to check out The Maybelline Blog if they love VINTAGE!