Maybelline splashed magazines with glitz and glamour, using Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and Betty Grable in the 1940's.

Betty Grable Maybelline ad

The man who would become a cosmetics giant, Tom Lyle Williams, was a private man.....When TL launched the Maybelline Co. in 1915, mascara was deemed the “province of whores and homosexuals.”

He protected his Company and his family, by staying out of view from the public and an every intrusive press.  In the 1930's, Tom Lyle ran his empire from a distance, cloistered behind the gates of his Hollywood Villa Valentino and contracted Movie Stars to represent him in the  media.

From the earliest days of silent film, he sought Photoplay stars, like Viola Dana, Phyllis Haver, and Clara Bow.  Throughout the 1930’s “Golden Age of Hollywood,” TL splashed magazines with glitz and glamour, using Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and Merle Oberon.  World War ll brought in the Pin-up girls, including, Bettie Grable, Elyse Knox, Hedy Lamaar, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner.

The 1950’s, ushered in the Girl Next Door... represented by Debby Reynolds and Grace Kelly.  When Maybelline appeared on Television in the early 1950’s, Tom Lyle decided to appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated image..... Appealing to foreign as well as domestic markets.

     Joan Crawford – had her teeth pulled and replaced to have a more beautiful

     smile and became Maybelline’s spokesperson for years.

Merle Oberon – was in an accident that disfigured the skin on her face, yet in films she looked flawless because of pancake make up.

Betty Grable - took over for the leading song and dance actress Alice Faye and became a big star in musicals as well As one of Maybelline’s top models.

Debby Reynolds - was to be Maybelline’s leading model in the 1950’s until Tom Lyle decided to change his ad campaign from the all American Girl to a more international exotic sophisticate in his TV commercials and print magazines.

Maybelline was the sole sponsor for the Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier lll, wedding in Monaco appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated woman who would appeal to foreign as well as domestic markets.  


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Maybelline and the teenage market, Post WW ll, USA.

Maybelline was readily available in drug stores after World War ll and the average teenager was able to purchase Maybelline mascara, shadow and pencil for one dollar.   

Maybelline ad, 1946

The movies pumped out teenage movies so fast that every talent scout from every Motion Picture Studio in Hollywood had their eye's open for the next big thing.

L

Schwab Drugstore, 1949


Lana Turner a 16 year old student at Hollywood High was discovered while having a soda at Schwab's drugstore and soon become Hollywood's most gorgeous "sweater girl," in the late 30's. 

-- Lana Turner in They Won't Forget, the film that launched her career and labeled her "The Sweater Girl"

 Click on tribute to Lana Turner.



I don't think any young girl was more influenced by Maybelline ads in Hollywood glamour magazines than Norma Jean Baker, (Marilyn Monroe,) in Post WW ll

Marilyn Monroe on the cover of Yank Magazine, 1945.

1946 Maybelline ad appealing to the average girl
after WW ll.

In 1975 the film Goodbye Norma Jean was filmed at my father's home in Palm Springs.  Many of my friends and family were extras, wearing costumes from the 1940's.  See below for a few pictures of my sister Donna Jean Williams, during the filming with her friend, Gerry Marks.

Donna Jean Williams in our dad, Bill Williams, Model-T truck, taking a break from filming Goodbye Norma Jean.

Gerry Marks in the background, with the Model-T truck loaded with supplies for a shot in the film.

Inside my fathers living room where a party scene was being shot. Gerry Marks, with one of the cast, and my sister Donna Jean Williams dressed 40's style posing for background shots.

Marilyn Monroe - Photograph​s - At Tobey Beach by Andre DeDienes (1949)

How Norma Jean Baker became Marilyn Monroe
Monroe became one of Blue Book's most successful models; she appeared on dozens of magazine covers. Her successful modeling career brought her to the attention of Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive, who arranged a screen test for her. Lyon was impressed and commented, "It's Jean Harlow all over again."[22] She was offered a standard six-month contract with a starting salary of $125 per week. Lyon did not like the name Norma Jeane and chose "Carole Lind" as a stage name, after Carole Lombard and Jenny Lind, but he soon decided it was not an appropriate choice. Monroe was invited to spend the weekend with Lyon and his wife Bebe Daniels at their home. It was there that they decided to find her a new name. Following her idol Jean Harlow, she decided to choose her mother's maiden name of Monroe. Several variations such as Norma Jeane Monroe and Norma Monroe were tried and initially "Jeane Monroe" was chosen. Eventually, Lyon decided Jeane and variants were too common, and he decided on a more alliterative sounding name. He suggested "Marilyn", commenting that she reminded him of Marilyn Miller. Monroe was initially hesitant because Marilyn was the contraction of the name Mary Lynn, a name she did not like.[citation needed] Lyon, however, felt that the name "Marilyn Monroe" was sexy, had a "nice flow", and would be "lucky" due to the double "M"[23] and thus Norma Jeane Baker took the name Marilyn Monroe.

Maybelline's stunning Cover-Girls from the 1940's

Maybelline was synonymous with fashion, style and indisputable Hollywood glamor.  Here are a few of Tom Lyle's favorite movie queens of the silver screen during the 1940's. 

Dorothy Lamour starred in the "Road to..." movie series with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the 1940s and 1950s. The movies were enormously popular during the 1940s, and they regularly placed among the top moneymaking films each year

The Unique Beauty of Gene Tierney - Excerpted from Michael Atkinson's essay, Dec 1994 Movieline magazine.  "Among faces, Gene Tierney's is a tournament rose, an Opaline study in serene, sexualized perfection, a mad musky Egyptian daydream of cat thoughts."

Lana Turner was discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen.

Joan Crawford is the movies personified.  The embodiment of the American Dream and the official face of Maybelline in the 1940's.

 Known for her sultry good looks Merle Oberon played Cathy Linton in Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier in 1939.  The 1940's proved to be a very busy decade where she appeared in no less than 15 movies.

Click on videos below for Scrapbook of beautiful 1940 stars -  many gorgeous faces used in Maybelline Ads - Tom Lyle sure knew how to pick-em.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AShAPReYOfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XbskY9DQaA

Nothing has changed in 95 years - Girls still want to stand out and have fun!!!!

Maybelline in the middle of Times Square, with eyes that stop traffic!

Read it all in The Maybellie Story and the Spirited family Dynasty Behind It.

King of Advertising, TL Williams

Betty Grable Maybelline ad

The man who would become a cosmetics giant, Tom Lyle Williams, was a private figure who hid from the public because when he launched the Maybelline Co., mascara was deemed the “province of whores and homosexuals.” To protect his family from scandal, and to stay out of view from the scrutiny of the press, Tom Lyle ran his empire from a distance, cloistered behind the gates of his Hollywood Hills Rudolph Valentino Villa.  He contracted movie stars to represent him in all forms of media.  From the earliest days of   silent film he sought Photoplay stars, Viola Dana, Phyllis Haver, and Clara Bow.  Throughout the 1930’s “Golden Age of Hollywood,” he splashed magazines with glamour, using Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and Merle Oberon to represent the ideal Maybelline image.  During the World War ll era, he turned to pin up girls like Bettie Grable, Elyse Knox, Hedy Lamaar, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner, to inspire the boys fighting for our Country and keep Maybelline ingredients flowing.  By the 1950’s, the girl next door, represented by Debby Reynolds and Grace Kelly, appealed to the emerging young mothers and housewives. When Maybelline appeared on Television in the early 1950’s, Tom Lyle decided to appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated woman who would appeal to foreign as well as domestic markets.

Joan Crawford – had her teeth pulled and replaced to have a more beautiful smile and became Maybelline’s spokesperson for years.

Merle Oberon – was in an accident that disfigured the skin on her face, yet in films she looked flawless because of pancake make up.

Betty Grable - took over for the leading song and dance actress Alice Faye and became a big star in musicals as well As one of Maybelline’s top models.

Debby Reynolds - was to be Maybelline’s leading model in the 1950’s until Tom Lyle decided to change his ad campaign from the all American Girl to a more international exotic sophisticate in his TV commercials and print magazines.

Maybelline was the sole sponsor for the Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier lll, wedding in Monaco appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated woman who would appeal to foreign as well as domestic markets.