Maybelline Company's Vice President becomes Father of the Bride. The Annette and George Corbett Love Story

Annette Louise Williams, father, Noel J Williams, was Vice President of the Maybelline Company, the company his brother Tom Lyle Williams founded in 1915.  When Annette was old enough, she worked as secretary, for her uncle Tom Lyle and her father. Annette, loved her special position at Maybelline, but deep down inside she yearned for her Prince Charming to come whisk her away. 

One day, out of the blue, and much to her surprise, Annette was introduced to a handsome, charming man, wearing a WW ll, Army Air Corps uniform and her heart skipped a beat.  Within a short time she and George Corbett, were engaged and a shortly after her Dream Wedding was planned.  

The Father of the Bride, Noel James Williams, walks his darling daughter down the isle to her betrothed.  The second picture, Annette Williams, at their family home, in Sauganash Illinois,  stands with her brother Noel A. Williams, sister, Helen Williams-Huber and brother, Dick Williams.

George and Annette cut their Wedding cake, while the Father and Mother of the Bride, Noel James and Frances A. Williams, have a moment together, before he makes his toast to the young newlyweds.

An added surprise, The Bride's uncle, Ches Haines, honors the young couple by singing several of their favorite love songs. After the fairy tale Wedding, Annette and George sped off in the Father of the Brides car - for a long, long, romantic honeymoon.   

                  
    And George and Annette lived Happily Ever After!!!!

Noel James Williams, Vice President of the Maybelline Company, 1915 - 1951

Noel J. Williams, was the second son born to Thomas Jefferson and Susan Anna Williams.  As a young man he knew he did not want to work the family farm in Morganfield Kentucky and moved to Chicago where he found a job with the railroads as a bookkeeper.  His main ambition was to earn enough money to marry his childhood sweetheart, Frances Allen.

Younger brother Tom Lyle Williams, followed Noel J. to Chicago, followed by their sister Mabel and the three of them worked together build Tom Lyle's little mail order business.   When Tom Lyle needed money to launch his Maybelline Company,  Noel J. lent him $500 he'd saved to marry Frances.   In honor of Noel J. for believing him and his business Tom Lyle, made his brother Vice President of the Maybelline Company.

Tom Lyle paid the 500 dollar loan back one year later and on Nov 8th, 1916, Noel and Frances were married and moved into an apartment down the street from the Maybelline company warehouse.  The rest of the Williams family left Kentucky, moved to Chicago and lived in the apartment above it. 

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

Right to Left:  Noel J., Frances,   Thomas Jefferson, holding baby Helen. Mabel, Preston (my grandfather,) in a Navel uniform,  Susan Anna 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.

Left to right, Ches Haines, (Eva's husband,) head of transportation for the Maybelline Company, (not sure who second man is,) Noel J'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.

After 30 years, living in a brownstone not far from the Maybelline Company in Chicago, Noel J. and his family moved into a large custom home.  He was 55 years old and the Maybelline Company proved to be one of America's biggest success stories - and still is today after 100 years.

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.

This picture of Noel J. was taken outside the Maybelline Company, at 900 Ridge and Clark in Chicago.

Here is one of the last pictures of Noel J. and Frances - at Tom Lyle's estate in Bel Air.  Noel J. died  the next year in 1951.  Without him there certainly wouldn't have been a Maybelline Company. 


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

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"

Theda Bara, Silent Films "The Vamp," promoted Maybelline one hundred years ago

Theda Bara was one of the most popular Stars, of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols.

The word “vamp,” originated from Theda’s nickname while filming a sultry vampire, in A Fool There Was.    

A 1915 silent film, inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The Vampire." Theda's character simply known as “the Vampire."  was reduced to “vamp,” and the title stuck.

Just as Theda Bara, appeared as the Vamp, in

A Fool There Was in 1915 - Mabel Williams, inspired her brother, Tom Lyle Williams - to formulate an eye beautifying product, called Lash-Brow-Ine - that  became Maybelline, in 1916, and was named in her honor.

Lash-Brow-Ine and Maybelline, were the first eye beautifying products, in America, sold through mail order and eventually over the counter.  Silent Film Stars, like Theda Bara, made the public aware of the most forgotten feature on the face, "The Eyes."

Tom Lyle Williams, founder and owner of The Maybelline Company from 1915 - 1967.

Older brother Noel James Williams, also played a role in Maybelline's birth, when he loaned his brother Tom Lyle, $500. to launch Lash-Brow-Ine, in 1915.  He was Maybelline's Vice President from 1915 until his death in 1951.

Hollywood and Silent Films were a key ingredient in making Maybelline, a great success in the  20TH Century.  

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.