Mabel Williams’ influence on Maybelline’s production is less about hands-on manufacturing and more about her foundational role as the accidental muse whose ingenuity inspired the product itself

Unlike her husband, Chet Hewes, who directly managed production, Mabel’s contribution was indirect but pivotal—setting the stage for what Maybelline would become. Here’s a detailed exploration of how Mabel shaped production.

Mabel’s influence began with her famous kitchen mishap around 1915. After singeing her eyebrows and eyelashes, she mixed coal dust (or lampblack) with Vaseline to darken them—a practical fix born of necessity. This wasn’t a production method in the factory sense, but it was a proof of concept. Tom Lyle Williams, her brother, saw this and recognized a market opportunity. Mabel’s “method” was rudimentary:

Raw Materials: She used household items—coal dust, a common pigment, and Vaseline, a widely available petroleum jelly. This simplicity influenced production by showing Tom Lyle that a viable product could be made from accessible, affordable ingredients.

Application Insight: Mabel applied her mix with whatever she had—a cloth or her fingers—highlighting a need for an easy delivery system. This nudged Tom Lyle toward including a brush with the eventual Cake Mascara, a production choice that became a Maybelline hallmark.

Her influence here was inspirational, not technical. She didn’t refine the formula or scale it—that was Tom Lyle’s domain—but her experiment defined the product’s core: a lash-enhancing paste women could trust.

Naming and Identity: A Production Anchor

When Tom Lyle launched Maybelline Cake Mascara in 1916, he named it after Mabel (blending “Mabel” with “Vaseline”), cementing her influence on the brand’s identity. This wasn’t about factory processes, but it shaped production indirectly.

Product Consistency: The name tied the company to a personal story, pressuring production (later under Chet’s watch) to deliver a reliable item worthy of Mabel’s legacy. Sharrie often frames this on X as a family pride point—every tin or tube had to reflect that original spark.

Consumer Appeal: Mabel’s DIY fix resonated with women seeking practical beauty solutions. Production had to mirror this—simple, effective, affordable—guiding decisions like the 10-cent mascara in 1932 or the shift to cream tubes in the 1940s.

Mabel’s influence gave production a why: meeting a real woman’s need, not just a commercial gimmick.

Indirect Role via Chet (1920s-1960s)

After marrying Chet Hewes in 1926, Mabel’s influence on production took a backseat, but her connection lingered through her husband’s role. Chet managed mascara manufacturing, and Mabel’s presence in the family likely reinforced his commitment.

Personal Stake: Chet worked for Tom Lyle, but he also worked for Mabel’s legacy. Her initial idea was the seed; his production methods—mixing pigments, filling tins, scaling output—grew it. Mabel didn’t dictate his techniques, but her story might’ve kept him grounded in the product’s roots.

Family Feedback: Living in Chicago near the Williams clan, Mabel may have offered informal input. Did she test early batches? Comment on brushes? There’s no hard evidence, but Sharrie’s tales of “Auntie Mabel” suggest she stayed close to the fold, a quiet influence on the ethos Chet brought to the factory.

Her role here was emotional, not operational—she wasn’t in the plant—but her marriage to Chet tied her to production’s heartbeat.

Sharrie’s Perspective: Mabel as Muse, Not Maker

Sharrie Williams doesn’t credit Mabel with production specifics, but, cast her as the origin, not a factory player.

 

Mabel’s influence was pre-production: she handed Tom Lyle a concept, not a blueprint. Yet Sharrie’s pride in Mabel implies a lasting echo—production had to honor that first lash-darkening moment. When Chet oversaw vats of wax or waterproof mixes, he was, in a way, scaling Mabel’s kitchen trial.

Limits of Influence

Mabel didn’t touch later innovations—cream mascara, waterproof formulas, or Great Lash. After 1915, she stepped back, raising her kids (Shirley, Joyce, Tommy) while Chet and Tom Lyle built the empire.

Her influence on production was static: a starting point, not a process. She died in 1975, long after Maybelline’s 1967 sale, her role frozen in that 1915 anecdote. 

The Big Picture

Mabel’s production influence was foundational but not hands-on. She gave Maybelline its “what” (mascara) and “why” (enhancing everyday beauty), leaving the “how” to Tom Lyle and Chet. Her DIY mix set parameters—cheap ingredients, user-friendly design—that shaped manufacturing for decades.

Sharrie’s nod to Mabel reminds us: without her, there’d be no tins to fill or tubes to pack. No Maybelline to remember. 

The 1969 Porsche 911E, was the car I loved the most, as boy's love fast cars, and this one was a rocket!!

 

I remember the day that big car hauler pulled through those big electric gates at Casa Guillermo.  It was 1976 and I was all of 16 and what do you know?  I had a license!!

The driver of the truck got out and came around to the end of the trailer to release the back door and attach the tracks that would allow the machine to roll down.  One of the two men hopped into the trailer and got into that sweet ride and started it up.  I never heard such an awesome sound.  It had a throaty roar, as he backed the car up and his partner guided him down the ramp. 

My Dad put his arm around me,  as he often did, and squeezed my bicep, "hey muskels."  (Dad always had such a fun way with words,)  "What do you think of this one!  This was my cousin Bill Stroh's car, I bought it from his wife, when he passed away.  You know he used to race cars, on the professional circuit.  The motor in this car is no ordinary motor." 

 I said, "really, why is that?"  and then he paused a moment as the car backed out, and the bright sunlight hit that burnt orange paint, with the cool racing stripe across the bottom, and the word PORSCHE in it and on the back hood, all in gold lettering and beneath it -Sportomatic, 911E.  

Gleaming in the sunshine it looked like a beautiful jewel, and Dad said, "isn't she beautiful!!"  

I said so what's up with the motor Pop?  Wanting to know every detail. 

"Bill had it specially built, by his Master Mechanics, all of the pistons and rings were forged by hand out of aluminum, as well as many other parts to be extra light weight, everything about this motor was designed for ultimate performance, this motor won him many races, when it was in his race car, so when Bill retired he had this motor put into his Wife's Porsche 911E, so you see this is no ordinary car" 

"Well Dad how is that possible? I mean a race engine?, that doesn't seem legal."

"Well Press,  it had to be tuned down a bit, to make it safe for the road, and as well the car has a specialized breaking system to support the high speeds, and they modified the suspension as well all to make it fast and safe, and best of all it looks original." 

"I said oh, you mean it doesn’t' have all of the fancy spoilers and air dams to make it look fast!!"

"Yep that's it, this is a serious machine!!." 

(You see my father liked style - not so much flash, he believed that a car should maintain the original look, the classic lines, as it was designed.)  With that my palms were itching, and you bet I could not wait to show this to my friends.

So once the moving men left and the car was placed in the car port, next to all of the other beautiful cars, we looked it over, and were so impressed with how clean it was.  It looked like new, Burnt Orange, with all black leather interior.  I knew this was going to be mine some day,

Dad said, "what do you say we take her for a spin."

"Are you kidding?  You don’t' have to ask me twice," I said, and we hopped in.  Dad in the driver’s seat of course.  He turned the ignition on, and revved that throaty little beast!!  

The quick response was quite thrilling, the sportomatic transmission, was so unique, in that it had no clutch. You just let it idle, put it in 1st gear and go, and release the gas between gears, and I mean to tell you we went!! The response was amazing.   Dad just cruised at first, through the neighborhood, but he could not help himself wiping through the winding roads.   He said "she handles like a dream."   But I wanted one thing - to go fast !!!

"Hey Dad, let’s take her on to the Tram Way road."  This is a 10 mile road, with long stretches of straight ways, mixed with mountain terrain, it takes you to the base station of the Palm Springs Aerial Tram Way.  This was my favorite place to joy ride the cars and being the middle of summer in the desert, there would be no one around. 

So we made our way there, about a ten minute drive from the Casa.  Upon turning on to the tram road, off of Palm Canyon, Dad let it rip.  1st gear we hit 50 miles an hour, in what seemedlike 1.5 sec, it was like a rocket, I am telling you I have never felt G-Force ever, but that day I believe I understood the meaning, as I could barley, if at all, lean forward off of the seat, and then Dad hit second gear, and it pressed me back further into the seat and with in another second or two we were flying past 95, 3rd gear was over 120 in a second, and he shut her down, and we were blown away as this was a five speed transmission and the speedometer went from 0 to 160 and I am sure it would do all of that and more, but 120 was cool for now.

Dad did not let me drive that car for quite sometime, as he had already found out about some of my escapades, parties, and joy rides, and to think of that day, even amazes me that he was doing anything with me, because, during that period of my life, I seemed to be a loose cannon, but in any event that was a great day for us.

The Maybelline Story Told Now, Or Lost Forever

My Auntie Mabel Williams, 1915

I've had a passion for my family history since I was in Jr. High School.  My grandmother told me about the birth of the Maybelline company and how my Great Auntie Mabel mixed the ashes from a burnt cork with Vaseline and dabbed the mixture on her brows and lashes to make them grow and give them more color.   She told me how Mabel’s brother, Tom Lyle, a 19 year old entrepreneur with a small mail-order business in 1915, realized the value of her idea and brought it into the world.  He invented mascara and he named his company Maybelline in her honor and it became the greatest success in the cosmetic field.  I gave a speech, got an “A,” and won popularity overnight. From that minute on, I became obsessed with uncovering the lost story about the people who shaped my life.  

My Grandmother, Evelyn F. Williams 1917

I spent time with all my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, collecting stories, photographs and vintage Maybelline ads for years and years.  Then, in 1978, when my grandmother was killed in an arson related fire, I was determined not to let her memory die and vowed to write her story.  For the last the next 20 years, I became an intensive journal writer, using the Ira Progoff system, and eventually found my writer's voice.  

My Father, Bill Williams and me, 1983

When a fire took my own home in 1993 and all my memories with it, I turned to my father for support and sat for two and a half years writing a 963 page manuscript about the family and the Maybelline history.  

After being edited a dozen times, The Maybelline Story was born and sent out into the world to inspire, entertain and leave a legacy for the people I have loved and who have passed on.  If I wasn’t given this passion, a piece of American history would be lost forever and would have died with me.  I hope other people have also been inspired to research their roots and capture what they find for their children and grandchildren.  

Family History is the greatest gift one can pass on..... and to connect with your background..... PRICELESS. 

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