Maybelline's spectacular one of a kind classic car.

Meeting with Packard historian, and owner of VAULT CARS,  Steve Snyder, was a real eye opener!!!

Steve brought out a thick folder, documenting the history of my great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, Packard Victoria and gave us a history lesson that few car collectors ever hear.  But before all the fun began, I signed my book, The Maybelline Story, to his parents, Bill and Jo Ellen Snyder..... who also had priceless stories about this special car.

According to Steve's documentation, the Packard Victoria, was advertised for sale in 1952,  in Los Angeles, in a big photo ad in..... 

October 1952 Motor Trend,

                    the October issue if Motor Trend, for $2,900.

That sum would have purchased a brand new '52 Buick Super Convertible, so the 12 year old Packard was still mighty desirable at the time.

Next, It was shown in a color photo, in it's

 original cream color....

                                in Borgeson & Jaderquist's 1955 book,
                                "Sports and Classic Cars." 

January, 1955 Motor Trend.

                   In January 1955 Motor Trend ads,
                    had the car available for $1,200....

According to Steve, the car showed up in the February, 1966 issue of Hemmings Motor News, which was then quaintly organized into

 "Ford" and "Non-Ford" sections.

"It's an easy car to spot," Steve said, "since the combination of 1940 chassis with 148" wheelbase, Bohman and Schwartz Victoria bodywork..... 

and, Horse head, hood ornament and unique headlight bezels and parking lights identify this car."

Bill Snyder, (the owner since 1971,) had a conversation with Chris Bohman, who told him, "this was the only car on the 148' wheelbase, and the only Packard Victoria done by Bohman & Schwartz in 1940."

In 1971, the car turned up again...

 in Old Cars Weekely, in Kahoka, Missouri, and when Bill Snyder saw the ad, the rest was history.

According to Steve's father, Bill Snyder, there was
 one other Packard Victoria done by Bohman & Schwartz, but it's a 1941 model, on a shorter, 138" Chassis, and it has a different fender treatment and hood ornament.

Bill, Jo Ellen and Steve Snyder.

Stay tuned tomorrow,  for a taped interview with Steve Snyder, as he sits at the wheel of the Packard Victoria and tells the entire story.

Maybelline Magic, was in the BOX..

1954, Maybelline ad, showing how to apply, eyeliner, eye shadow and mascara.

My cousin, Noel P. (Williams,) Huber, sent me this picture, of Maybelline eye shadow boxes, that would be stamped with the Maybelline logo and filled with cream shadows, during the 1950's.

In the 1950's, this gold metal Maybelline box, would arrive at De Luxe Mascara, (Maybelline's mascara company,) and be filled with a black cake of mascara, a little black brush, a mirror and directions on how to apply Maybelline mascara.


My cousin Chuck, aka, BB1, and my sister Donna, and I, will be visiting with Bill, and Steve Snyder of... VAULT CARS... to view Tom Lyle Williams, 1940 Packard Victoria, this Thursday, March, 22. 

Stay tuned for fun pictures and video's next weekend.

Thank you for following the Vintage Maybelline Docu-Blog, the most extensive, documentary blog on the Internet.   ONE BIG NAME...ONE BIG FAMILY...ONE BIG STORY. Be sure to pick up your copy of The Maybelline Story today!!!!

On the hunt for TL Williams 1934 Packard Dietrich Vee Windshield,.

Tom Lyle Williams loved his family, the Maybelline Company and his Packards.

Tom Lyle with his brother Preston, his sister in law, Evelyn and his nephew Bill Williams top left.  Below he poses with his son Tom Lyle Jr.  Right, Tom Lyle with his 1934 Packard Dietrich Vee Windshield, one of only 4 made.

I recieved this letter about Tom Lyle's 1934 Vee Windshield Dietrich Packard and thought it might be interesting to my Car-Guy readers.   I

Dear Sharrie,


My name is Matthew Kilkenny, a Packard auto historian, and I'm currently writing a book about Custom Packards from the early 1930s including Dietrich custom bodied Packards. Tom Lyle had superb taste in cars as his car is only one of about four ever built in 1934. The goal of my book, because these cars are so rare and beautiful, is to as best I can document the history of each car including the original owner.  Like a Monet or Rembrandt, people a generation or a century from now will want to know the history of these rolling scullptures. I'm trying to document the stories of each of these rare cars such as Tom Lyle's in a definitive book before the stories get lost. The stories are starting to get lost because people that owned rare Dietrich Packards early in their life for example are dying off.


We owe it to future generations to document these beautiful cars as best as possible.  I saw the pictures of the car on your website and I have actually been trying to find more info on this car! I have a photo of Tom Lyle taking the keys to this car from a Packard Salesman. As part of my documentation and figuring out for example, which of the four cars existing today belonged to Tom, I need the "VIN" numbers off of the car. In Tom's archives does he have any sales invoices, registration documents, fireewall plate or other pictures of this car bill of sale who he sold it to and when? This will allow me to figure out which of these cars was Tom's.


As you know it takes so much work to track down leads and do research for a book, but I have moments like this where I personally, or through help of another, get pointed to things such as this and you feel like you make progress! My Dad owns a 1934 Dietrich Conv Sedan similar to Tom's and we have written an article on Dietrichs for the world famous Pebble Beach concours program. I have attached this article. Tom Lyle is in company of Al Jolson and Gene Sarazen, the famous golfer, who also owned rare Vee Windshield Dietrich Packards.


 Best Regards,


Matt Kilkenny


Stay tuned tomorrow for update on Tom Lyle Williams 1940 Packard Victoria, one of two ever made and found at last.

A rich man, with a humble spirit, devoted to family first.

No matter how big Maybelline became, Tom Lyle Williams remained devoted to his Son and nieces and nephews, who loved and adored him all their lives.

Left to right - Bob (Williams) Haines, Dick Williams, Tommy (Williams) Hewes, Marilyn (Williams) Haines, Shirley (Williams) Hewes, June (Williams) Haines, Noel A. Williams, Bill Williams, Annette Williams, Helen Williams, Tom Lyle Jr. Williams holding baby, Joyce (Williams) Hewes.

Tom Lyle, The King of Advertising, was just Unk Ile, to the kid's who loved him.  Always humble, kind, generous and devoted - his love of family, remained constant,  all his life.

Parents were, Tom Lyle Williams and (Bennie Gibes,) Noel J. and Frances Williams, Mabel and Chet Hewes, Evelyn and Preston Williams and Eva and Ches Haines.

Read all about Tom Lyle and his family in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Louis B Mayer, TL Williams and Emery Shaver at MGM.

Tom Lyle Williams and his partner, Emery Shaver, conducted business on a regular basis at MGM.  Negotiating Maybelline contracts, with some of Louis B. Mayer's,  most beautiful Stars.

                                          MGM Studio's famous gates.

          Louis B Mayer on the left with Paulette Goddard.

Paulette Goddard in an early 1940's Maybelline ad.

The FACE of Maybelline, in the 1940s, Joan Crawford.

MGM Star Joan Crawford, also Tom Lyle's personal friend.

One of the most beautiful women in the world,
Hedy Lamarr

                    MGM Star, Hedy Lamarr and Maybelline model.

                                                 Exotic Merle Oberon.

Merle Oberon made pictures at MGM for Samuel Goldwyn Productions, and was a Maybelline model.

My father Bill Williams and his mother Evelyn with uncle, Tom Lyle and Emery Shaver, (seated.)  Standing next to TL's 1934 Packard Victoria with the extra long hood.

To be Continued:

Read all about Maybelline and Old Hollywood in
                        The Maybelline Story.


Tom Lyle and Emery were bi-coastal, between Chicago and Hollywood in the 1930's and though Tom Lyle was a Hollywood mogul, contracting the biggest Stars in the world, he remained the Godfather for his family throughout his entire life. 

The Great Gatsby and The Maybelline Story.

Both stories are a slice of the American Dream during the 20th Century. 

what IS so great about The Great Gatsby?  After its republishing in 1945 and 1953, it quickly found a wide readership and is today widely regarded as a literary classic. The Modern Library named it the second best novel of the 20th Century.

 One might assume this is a story of love, but it isn't. The Great Gatsby is a tragedy.  It is also a critique of the great "American Dream."

Gatsby is a combination of innocence and faith.  He's committed to his dreams - and never gives up on them.  He's a characer people can follow.  A hero with flaws, someone like them.

It has been said that F. Scott Fitzgerald's book is a depressing story.  Life is hard enough - why read a book that makes you feel worse?

The Great Gatsby takes place following the First World War.  American society enjoyed prosperity during the "roaring" 1920s as the economy soared.  

                             Zelda Fitzgerald, (Daisy.)

This Maybelline Ad has reflections of Zelda Fitzgerald,
F Scott Fitzgerald's wife and his inspiration for Daisy, one of the main characters, in The Great Gatsby.

Tom Lyle Williams at the Villa Valentino.

The Maybelline Story has the same qualities as The Great Gatsby, except it isn't fiction.  It is a true story about a man who made the American Dream a reality for himself and his family, yet, not without a price. 

Read the The Maybelline Story and The Great Gatsby.

                                                 The Great Gatsby. 

Erte' - Ziegfield Follies, Maybelline in the 1920's.

 "Through these portals pass the most beautiful girls in the world."

 The Ziegfeld Follies were famous for many beautiful chorus girls commonly known as Ziegfeld girls.  Florenz Ziegfeld's theatrical spectaculars known as the Ziegfeld Follies, were based on the Folies Bergère of Paris....

Erte costumes and sets were featured in the

Ziegfeld Follies of 1923,

 Erté's theatrical innovations were countless, including "living curtains" (showgirls with plumes and pearls, festooned by embroidered trains.

The Ziegfeld girls paraded up and down flights of stairs semi-nude, as anything from birds to battleships. 

These beauties, of similar size, decked out in Erté designs, gained many young male admirers and they became objects of popular adoration.

 Ziegfeld Girls,  including Paulette Goddard,  Barbara Stanwyck and Louise Brooks became Maybelline models and were featured in future ads throughout the 1930's and 1940's. 

Though beautiful Phyllis Haver was rejected by Ziegfeld after auditioning in 1915, Tom Lyle immediately saw her appeal and featured her in several Maybelline ads during the 1920s.

 Tom Lyle Williams, Entrepreneur, King of Advertising, President of the Maybelline Co.



Flo Ziegfield, The Ziegfeld Follies,

 "Glorifying the American Girl."

             Erté - elegant fashion designs - art deco -


Erte, Flo Ziegfeld and TL Williams, were synonomous with fashion, style and glamour during the 1920's and  were instrumental in spotlighting  beauty, throughout the 1930's - But only Maybelline has remained a Global brand, into the  21st Century.

                                    Ziegfeld Follies Girls, 1907 -1931.

Maybelline Christmas Card from TL Williams, 1952.

 Merry Christmas from Tom Lyle Williams.

Tom Lyle Williams was Unk Ile to the family and never failed to remember every single one of his siblings, their children and their children's children on Christmas.  My sisters, brother and I, and all our cousins couldn't wait for our shiny $10.00 bill inside a money-card, that said Merry Christmas, Lots of love from Unk Ile.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some of my favorite pictures of Christmas past.