Maybelline founder Tom Lyle Williams

MEMORIAL DAY MEMORIES FROM THE MAYBELLINE FAMILY..



Today I honor the men in my family who served in the Armed Forces and fought in WW1 and WW11.


My Grandfather, William Preston Williams served in the Navy during WW1.  Seen here with his family in 1917.  Right to left, Preston, Eva, Tom Lyle, Mabel, Noel J. Their parents, Susan and TJ Williams.



Maybelline Ad during WW11, promoting War Bonds.


My father, Bill Williams (W.P. Williams Jr.) in the Philippines during WW11. Detailed in my book.



                        Maybelline Ad during WW11.


My Father's first cousin, Noel A. Williams, (Chuck aka BB1's father,) joined the Navy right out of High School.


            Noel A. in his Navy uniform during WW11.


My father's first cousin - (on his mother Evelyn Boecher Williams side) - Bill Stroh.  Bill Stroh, is seen here on the right, standing with two Naval buddies on their Ship during WW11.
Bill Stroh in the middle.  I have done several posts about Bill Stroh and his 1965 Shelby 350 Mustang racing car.


Bill Stroh, during WW11. Want to know more about Bill Stroh, check him out in my archives.


                                              Patriotic Taps.

SIDE NOTE:  My cousin, Noel A. Williams son, Chuck aka BB1, is picking up Mike Love, at the Beach Boy Jet in Santa Barbara today and will take him to lunch then escort him to The Beach Boy Memorial Day Concert, at the Santa Barbara Bowl for sound check.  Pictures and stories will be posted so stay tuned.

GATSBY - LEONARDO DICAPRIO - May 10, 2013

Discover Gatsby’s greatness and compare it with Tom Lyle Williams and the Maybelline Company.


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Needless to say I'm thrilled there's another remake of The Great Gatsby.  So much of The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind it is cut from the the same 1920's, American Dream fabric.




And who better to play the part of Gatsby than 
DiCaprio.....Big Summer Blockbuster, 2013..... That's marketing!!!



The cars, the fashion and the lifestyle is right out of The Maybelline Story, as well. The only difference is Gatsby is fiction and The Maybelline Story is the real thing.



Check out this great trailer for Gatsby and some posts (below) I did on the Great Gatsby and the Gatsby lifestyle


http://www.maybellinebook.com/2012/01/great-gatsby-and-maybelline-story.html


http://www.maybellinebook.com/search/label/Great%20Gatsby


http://www.maybellinebook.com/search/label/The%20Great%20Gatsby


Gatsby, 2013, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Elizabeth Debicki, and Amitabh Bachchan.


ROBIN GIBB - WHITNEY HUSTON - DONNA SUMMER.

We lost three Super-Star Recording Artist's this year.  Whitney Huston, Donna Summer and Robin Gibb from the Bee Gees.  They gave us some of the greatest and most memorable songs of all time.


The Bee Gees will be best remembered for their contribution to the soundtrack of 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, which turned disco music into a worldwide phenomenon and placed the distinctive look of the era's hairstyles and outfits into pop culture legend. (The Telegraph, Thursday 24 May 2012)


Robin Gibb, 1949 - 2012 passed away on 
Sunday 20 May, 2012. 




WhitneyHouston  August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012. Most-awarded female act of all-time.

I loved them all, but my favorite was The Bee Gees and Stayin' Alive.  So many wonderful romantic memories go along with the songs sung by these remarkably talented recording artists.  The world has lost some of the best of the best and they will surely be missed.....  
R.I.P. dear ones.


                    Stayin' Alive, The Bee Gees, 1977.


She Works Hard for the Money, Donna Summer.


Stay tuned tomorrow for my kick off to another 
Rock n Roll Summer 2012.

ROCKIN & ROLLIN OLD SCHOOL..

With Summer here, I'm reminded of how music has always been a big part of my life...The Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Eagles...you name it... 


Music is the soundtrack for our memories and remains an American tradition today and always.


Here is my ex-husband Gene Dorney singing with his band, The Rounders in 1999, at a little bar in South Orange County called Mugs Away.  The Rounders were there from the beginning of our marriage in 1973 and played together for over 35 years.

Gene's best friend since childhood, Rick Corradini and Gene, kicking it at Muggs Away in 1999.

My last dance with The Rounders at Mugs Away, 1999.


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Seven year's later, 2006, Gene and the Rounder's were still together and Rocking at Mugs Away.


Gene has been an Orange County Attorney for over 40 years and still plays in The Gene Dorney Band, in Newport Beach today.



Some of my most fun memories were dancing to The Rounders, in the 1970's, 80's, 90's.



Gene in the green t-shirt with The Rounders, before they split up last year and he formed The Gene Dorney Band.

Living in Southern California all my life has been an Endless Summer with music, cars, the beach and trying to stay forever young.  I hope you are enjoying The Maybelline Docu-Blog.... tell your friends to check in and of course be sure to buy my book.....The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It...you will love seeing the world through my Maybelline eyes.

BEACH BOYS 1983 SPIRIT OF AMERICA TOUR WITH CHUCK AKA BB1, SHARRIE AND GENE.

The Beach Boys 50 year reunion tour
 is under way and will be playing at
 the Santa Barbara Bowl May 28th. 
 With all the excitement going on,
 I just can't help but reflect on 
their 1983, Spirit of America Tour
           30 years ago.      
 


Chuck Williams aka BB1, Sharrie and Gene
 at The Beach Boys Spirit of America
 tour in 1983. The reason we didn't have to wear
 our backstage passes, is because
 when we're with Chuck, we didn't need to.









 The Capitol Years, was a Beach Boys box set, only available as an import in the United States for $99.99. However, Chuck aka BB1, called his old friend, Mike Love, who arranged for him to be the first to have it. 


The Spirit of America Tour  came to the Orange County Fair Grounds in August of 1983 and since Gene and I lived in Laguna Beach at the time, Mike sent 3 backstage passes to Chuck...  It was an intimate setting after the concert, with a catered dinner and drinks and I have to say that when Mike Love took my hand and looked at me with those intense blue eyes, I developed a little
crush on him.   

Chuck and Gene each bought a Beach Boy cap at the concert and from what I remember, wore it everywhere.


Gene in his classic 1983 Spirit of America 
Beach Boy cap, singing, Caroline No.


I don't know what ever happened to Gene's t-shirt, but I know Chuck still has his in pristine condition and pulls it out for special occasions.


This one too, is a classic, still hanging around and I bet if you live in Santa Barbara you might
 catch Chuck wearing it while cruising in his Cobra.

I will never forget Dennis Wilson singing FOREVER, that warm California August night and tears filled my eyes, truly believing Gene felt the same way about me.

Mike Love and Bruce Johnston really getting down .

Four months after the Spirit of America concert... on December 28th, 1983, Dennis Wilson drowned while diving from a friend's boat, trying to recover items he had previously thrown overboard in fits of rage.  We were shocked and heart broken to say the least. His solo project Pacific Ocean Blue was released a couple of years ago and now a movie is being made. 


With the upcoming 50th Anniversary tour and album, it's appropriate to pay tribute to one of the founding members of the band.  R.I.P. Dennis!


    Dennis Wilson singing Forever, on the bottom, 1971.

The Drummer. A new movie being made about Dennis Wilson  follows the last six years of his life, leading up to his death in 1983. 


I know Chuck will be at the Santa Barbara Bowl concert next week and will take pictures for me to post, so stay tuned for more fun, fun, fun stories about Chuck aka BB1 and the Beach Boys live.


Check out a couple of posts I have done on Dennis Wilson and the Beach Boys, just click on links below.


http://www.maybellinebook.com/search/label/Dennis%20Wilson%27s%20death

http://www.maybellinebook.com/search/label/Dennis%20Wilson%20surfboard

MAD MEN'S NEW CLIENT IS MAYBELLINE.



I was watching Mad Men last night and noticed what looked like a Maybelline ad up on the 1966 bulletin board at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. 


I paused the TV and yes it was in fact a very recognizable ad from 1962 before Ultra Lash was presented in 1964. 



Here is the actual Maybelline ad used on the show. Maybelline's advertisements were handled by a Chicago based agency called Post Garner Keys and the agent's name was Rory Kirkland.  There is quite a bit written about Kirkland and the agency in my book, The Maybelline Story.


Here is another similar Maybelline ad. Tom Lyle Williams, Maybelline's owner, sold Maybelline to Plough Inc. in December of 1967.  I was just amazed to see this ad on Mad Men and am so happy I just happened to catch a glimpse.


Mad Men is set in the 1960s, initially at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City, and later at the newly created firm Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The focal point of the series is Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director at Sterling Cooper and a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, and the people in his life, both in and out of the office. As such, it regularly depicts the changing moods and social mores of 1960s America.

Mad Men season 6 starts March 7 2013.

CARROLL SHELBY'S 1965 FORD MUSTANG SHELBY GT350




Here I am with my little cousin John Stroh standing next to his father, Bill Stroh's, 1965, GT350 Cobra racing car.  I have said so much about Bill Stroh and this car that the best thing I can do is post all the links for you to punch up and review. 

http://www.maybellinebook.com/search/label/car%20guys





This is the final day of posting a farewell to Carroll Shelby..... The last great American automotive Legend.

TRAVOLTA - ALI - THE BEACH BOYS - DONNA SUMMER - CARROLL SHELBY - CHUCK WILLIAMS AKA BB1

On New years Eve, 1980, Gene, Georgia and I drove to
Santa Barbara to visit my cousin Chuck for the weekend.  Chuck was well known around Montecito..... not just because he was from the Maybelline family, but because he managed the Santa Barbara bowl and was personal friends with the Beach Boys.  He also had a charisma that gravitated celebrities and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.  Here is one of my favorite memories of him in action.

This is what  John Travolta looked like on New Years Eve, 1980.
Seen here with Catherine Deneuve and Gerard  Depardieu.


We met Chuck at The Old World Cafe, in Santa Barbara for a quick burger, before heading to his house to bring in 1981.  After dinner Chuck
 got up to go to the bathroom while we finished up and got ready to leave.  When he returned he was with this really cute guy, who I thought was one of his buddies, by the way they were joking around.  But It turns out the cute guy was no other than..... 

John Travolta, who was starring in
Urban Cowboy that year and having dinner with
Muhammad Ali and his family in a private room,
 right next to us. 
John Travolta, in Urban Cowboy, 1980.
Chuck introduced him to us, saying they just met for the first time in the bathroom. Travolta seemed taken with three year old Georgia and said, "what a beautiful child," than asked if he could take her to meet Ali, (who just happened to be Chuck's all time idol.)

Muhammad Ali in 1980.

Travolta took Georgia's hand and led her into the private room, where Ali and his wife and children were dining.  We didn't go in, but stood at the door and watched as Ali said,  "My My, what a purtty little girl you are" and asked her if he could pick her up.  She shook her head yes and he lifted her up onto his lap and looked at her big blue eyes up close.  It was a thrill for Gene, Chuck and me to see the world's greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, 

make over our baby girl. 


Another time, at a Beach Boy concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Chuck introduced Georgia to Brian Wilson and he posed for a picture with his arm on her shoulder.  Chuck still has the picture hanging in his office 30 years later. 

Chuck with his fan club.
My cousin Chuck aka BB1, or Beach Boy 1.....meaning number one Beach Boy Fan, according to his friend Mike Love, lead singer of the Beach Boys, is still a celebrity in Montecito..... but when he bought his Factory 5, Cobra in 2009 his status shot to the moon.
Chuck Williams Factory 5 Cobra.
There is no other car that can rival the King Cobra or turn heads, give double takes or draw chicks like Carroll Shelby's blue and white striped convertible racing car.  The Cobra will go down in history.....Like Muhammad Ali and the Beach Boys.....as "the greatest" car ever!!!!

Carroll Shelby's personal $5,500,000.00
427 Cobra, at Barrett Jackson classic car auction.  

The Beach Boy's 2012, 50th Anniversary tour. If you're at the Santa Barbara Bowl, May 28th for the 6:00 Beach Boy concert look for Chuck and his entourage near the front row and say hi.....

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                          Carroll ShelbyRIP you will be missed!!!
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   DONNA SUMMER YOU WILL BE MISSED!!!


                         QUEEN OF THE 1970'S DISCO, 
              DONNA SUMMER, PASSED AWAY TODAY.
                                        "LAST DANCE."