Mabel Williams, 'Secrets from the Harem,' from Photoplay Magazine...1915, inspired the birth of Maybelline

After accidently burning her brows and lashes in 1915, Mabel Williams  found a trick in Photoplay magazine, called "Secret of the Harem."  It allowed her to get the desired fuller darker lash look by using simple house hold products. Vaseline & soot or coal dust, was mixed into a black gel and then applied to the lashes with a fine brush. It was this simple trick that inspired her brother, Tom Lyle Williams, to formulate and name his new beauty product, Maybelline, in honor of his sister who gave him the idea.

                                           Elsie Ferguson

Jean Harlow

                                     Phyllis Haver

                                    Gloria Swanson

Greta Garbo

Joan Crawford

 Hedy Lamarr

Throughout the decades, Tom Lyle Williams, continued to contract these beautiful Hollywood Stars as the faces of Maybelline, while he kept his personal life and family, private from the public eye.

 Being in the right place at the right time was partly the secret of Maybelline coming into the world.  That and the fact the world of women were starving for something to allow them to enhance their natural beauty.  I know that if I didn't have my Maybelline, I would have always been the plainest of Jane's for sure.  My daughter once remarked that without makeup, my face looked like a blank slate.  With make up I can transform into a completely different persona.  So thank goodness my auntie Mabel, had the accident that caused her to need to invent something quick to save her face and to save all of our faces.

Read more these beautiful Photoplay Stars who represented Maybelline, in my book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.


Be sure to visit my Hilarious 1964 High School Blog called Saffrons Rule at http://saffronsrule.com/

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.  


Be sure to visit my new blog SAFFRONS RULE at http://saffronsrule.com/2013/08/19/today-i-was-in-a-good-mood-and-felt-real-popular/

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS MAYBELLINE...a never-before-told story that spans a 100 years and paints the picture of the American Dream.

   My Great uncle Tom Lyle Williams founded The Maybelline Company, in 1915 and owned it until it sold to Plough Inc. in 1967.

   Here is a peek at The Maybelline Story from the 1920's...

                          In the Beginning there was MAYBELLINE....

Noel James and Frances Williams 1917.

But it wouldn't have been possible without.....
Noel J. Williams.

Maybelline models on vintage Photoplay magazines.

                                                                Elsie Ferguson




Jean Harlow

                                    Phyllis Haver

                                Marilyn Monroe


Read more about whyTom Lyle chose beautiful Photoplay actresses to represent Maybelline, in The Maybelline Story.

Maybelline Targets the Flapper in the 1920's with film star Phyllis Haver.

       Why did Tom Lyle choose Phyllis Haver as a
                            Maybelline Model?

Phyllis Haver was one of the magic names during the Silent Film era and an original Mack Sennett bathing beauty.

The Sennett Bathing Beauties were pin-up girls for the doughboys during the First World War...... Phyllis Haver, starred in a series of top films and was known as the Nation's blond-darling during the teens and twenties of the twentieth century.  

"Her hair is a curly mass of golden corn silk. Her eyes are cerulean blue. Her teeth are perfect pearls. Her coloring is a Fort Valley Peach Festival," described a magazine writer of Haver. Other descriptions were, "Phyllis Haver's smile is coquettish and charming," "5' 6", 125 Ibs.," "picture of health," "skin like satin," and "her smile like peaches and cream  in her heyday.

Haver appeared on the covers of  Photoplay, Screenland. Motion Picture. Pathe Sun. Picture Play. and The Police Gazette.   She graced the cover of the sheet music, Singapore Lil, theme song for the Pathe motion picture production. Sal of Singapore, in which she starred. She, also, adorned calendars, matchbook covers, and postcards.

 I think you can see why Tom Lyle wanted Phyllis Haver as a Maybelline Model!  He wanted to target the Flappers in the 1920's and Phyllis Haver was had sex appeal.  

The Balloonatic (1923)  Catch a glimpse of Phyllis Haver with Buster Keaton in The Ballonaic, Click below.

http://www.archive.org/details/TheBalloonatic

She stared in Chicago a 1927 comedy-drama silent film produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by Frank Urson.

Phyllis Haver was in the ranks of Greta Garbo, Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, Delores Del Rio, Norma Talmadge, Conrad Nagel, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Norma Sheerer and Lon Chaney.

In 1924 She played on Broadway in Laurence Stallings and Maxwell Anderson's gritty WWI comedy-drama What Price Glory?  Haver played Shanghai Mabel.

She appeared in Up in Mabel's Room released in 1926, If there was ever a star with the kind of sex appeal Maybelline wanted to exude during the Roaring 20's Haver had it!

Stay tuned next week for more Maybelline Models, including "Sex Symbol" Jean Harlow and "It Girl" Clara Bow.

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.