Maybelline Star on Hollywood Walk Of Fame?

Hollywood Walk Of Fame Committee Now Accepting Walk of Fame Nominations for year 2012

Tom Lyle Williams has been nominated for a Star to be installed on the famous on Walk Of Fame.  

Why shouldn't Tom Lyle Williams the founder of Maybelline Cosmetics be remembered with his own Star on Hollywood's famous Walk Of Fame?  Max Factor has a Star and is forever immortalized as Hollywood's original Make-Up Man.  There is no guarantee Tom Lyle will be chosen and if he is the Star costs $30,000 which will require a big campaign to raise the fee.  But if he is chosen it will be a great opportunity for him to be remembered the way he wanted as 

                          The King Of Advertising.  

The Walk Of Fame Committee will make their selections at their meeting in June and the outcome will be posted on the Maybelline Blog,  Keep your fingers crossed!!!

   Read more about Tom Lyle and his Advertising Firsts in
                            The Maybelline Story.

Maybelline's use of color skyrocketed their ads to new heights!

What a difference color can make when it comes to grabbing the eye.

Tom Lyle's "Before and After," Maybelline Ads went from Plain Jane Sweet, to Over the Top "Hollywood," when he added color in the late 1930's.  By the early 1940's he contracted Film Stars - Joan Crawford, Hedy Lemarr, Betty Grable and Merle Oberon as well as many other gorgeous actresses to represent Maybelline and it's new level of penetrating color. I will be posting their faces as well as the bombshell pin-up girls next week, so stay tuned for more fabulous Maybelline advertisements during the War Years and some of Tom Lyle's never before told inside stories. 

Maybelline ads went from half a page black and white, to full-page color, eye-popping extravaganzas, A Maybelline First!

Tom Lyle Williams was more than the man who invented mascara - he was truly the King of Advertising!

Read more about the man and his genius in -

The Maybelline story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind it.

Maybelline had no competition with Max Facator

  Maybelline devoted exclusively to EYES!

 Tom Lyle Williams was devoted to 

 "Beautiful  Eyes,"

                          Max Factor was best known as
                       "The Makeup artist for the Stars." 

Max Factor started out selling hand made wigs and theatrical make-up to the growing film industry and soon coined the word "make-up" based on the verb phrase "to make up" (one's face) in 1920.  Up until then the term ‘"cosmetics’’ had been used as the term for ‘"make-up" and was considered to be used only by people in the theatre or of dubious reputation and not something to be used in polite society.

When Maybelline was born in 1916 and until the late 1930's, women used the word Maybelline for mascara, saying,  "I need to order Maybelline," not, "I need to buy mascara," and like Max Factors Face Make-up, Maybelline was considered "the Provence of whores" and not used by respectable ladies.  

Maybe that's why Tom Lyle used the term  "Eye Beauty Aids" and marketed Maybelline as pure and healthy for lashes and brows.  Eventually Maybelline was referred to as Mascara and had no negative connotation.


By the 1940's the Factor Brand expanded into a variety of cosmetics while Maybelline remained strictly Eye Beauty.

In this 1937 Maybelline Ad Tom Lyle used brilliant color, a Maybelline First!  As Technicolor film replaced Maybelline's black and white ads.  Notice the products are now attached to cards that were placed on display racks - another Maybelline First, and the 75 cent box of Maybelline was  scaled down to a small 10 cent size so all women could afford a box of Maybelline during the Great Depression.

From 1915 to 1967 when Tom Lyle sold The Maybelline Company to Plough Inc, Maybelline controlled over 75% of the eye beauty market and never experienced competition from any other cosmetic company.

Read more about Maybelline's supreme control of the eye beauty market and Tom Lyle Williams genius as the King of Advertising in "The Maybelline Story."

Maybelline Girl transforms her image to fit the times.

In 1916 the original Maybelline Girl was modest and shy, captivating the public with her long luxurious dark eyelashes.  

By 1932 a more confident Maybelline Girl opened her heavily made-up eyes, donned a Marcel wave and looked like she meant business.  

The Perfect Mascara

Women even during the depths of the Great Depression wanted their pale scanty lashes instantly transformed into the appearance of long, dark luxuriant fringe with Maybelline Mascara - and there was no turning back.


                      "We've Come A Long Way Baby,"


and like  the Maybelline Company it was just the beginning of a wild ride.


Another First for Maybelline when Tom Lyle decided to come out with a new and improved image of his original Maybelline Girl, making her a modern symbol of the times. 


Read more about Maybelline's roller coaster ride from 1915 to it's sale in 1967 in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It. 

Maybelline now has the Good Housekeeping Stamp of Approval.

Good Housekeepings Stamp of Approval guaranteed Maybelline meant trust, purity and perfection, much like
a mother's Love.

By 1938 Maybelline targeted a new market of women, or should I say girls - who had grown up seeing that little red and gold box on their mothers dressing table.  "If Mother uses Maybelline it must be pure and I can trust it," was the thought of the day and with Good Housekeeping's approving it harmless, tear-proof and non-smearing any sweet sixteen could now carry it in her purse with no worry of looking improper or worse, "cheap."  

This might seem silly by today's standards but if you remember in 1917 trying to convince a young girl to darken her eyelashes and brows with Maybelline was near impossible.  Only prostitutes and actresses dare be seen in public with made up eyes, but by the late 1930's with a generation of women now wearing Maybelline and with Good Housekeeping's Stamp of Approval it was a different story.  

Maybelline was the first eye cosmetic product to have the coveted Stamp of Approval from Good Housekeeping and it was a really big deal!  Tom Lyle celebrated the momentous occasion by introducing Maybelline in a beautiful new red and gold metal vanity that couldn't be crushed in a young girls purse. 

What a mastermind Tom Lyle was, always thinking up amazing reasons to inspire women to buy buy buy more Maybelline.  Also notice in this ad that Maybelline was called Maybelline Mascara for the first time, rather than an Eye Beautifier, another Maybelline First!

Read more incredible stories about the King of Advertising, Tom Lyle Williams and the family behind him in
The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

The Building of an Empire...Maybelline pioneered advertising and marketing in the cosmetic industry.

BEFORE AND AFTER - Became Maybelline's signature style in advertising by the late 1930's.

Maybelline not only created stunning new Before and After advertisements, they added eye shadow, pencil and an eyelash grower to their line of cosmetics by the late 1930's. 

Maybelline also innovated "carded merchandising," the brainchild of genius Rags Ragland - who now headed up the marketing department at Maybelline in Chicago. 

Before Maybelline products were placed on a card and hung on a display rack, the original little red and gold box of Maybelline was simple stocked in a box of six and placed on the counter next to the cash register, or hap hazardly mixed in with other random cosmetics someplace in the dime or drugstore. 

With Rags Ragland's brilliant idea of placing Maybelline products on a card and displaying them in strategic locations near the entry of the store, they became easily accessed by impulse buyers and the products remained fully stocked at all times .  Maybelline created many "FIRSTS," in the cosmetic industry that are still used today. 

Stay tuned this week for several Maybelline "Firsts" in advertising and marketing.  Also read more about Rags Ragland, and his major contribution to Maybelline's success in The Maybelline Story and purchase a signed autographed copy from me at maybellinestory.com.

Maybelline model Natalie Moorhead shifts direction in the 1930's.

Cold as ice, Vampish Natalie Moorhead ended the Roaring 20's with pure sophistication and skyrocketed   Maybelline advertisements to a new artistic level.

Statuesque, platinum-blond American actress Natalie Moorhead entered films in 1929; by the end of the next year, she had nearly a dozen movies to her credit. Moorhead was most effectively cast in vampish roles, notably her turn as one of the suspects in The Thin Man (1934).

Tom Lyle must have seen Natalie Moorhead's potential to target a more mature, sophisticated woman, who by 1935, had been wearing Maybelline for nearly 20 years.  His brilliance as the King of Advertising was to cover the market with every single type of persona developing in the movies, especially after sound was born by the end of the 1920's.  Moorhead, in her films, represented a beautiful, ultra sexy mature woman who knew what she wanted and she wanted Maybelline.  

 http://www.allstarpics.net/pic-gallery/natalie-moorhead-pics.htm
Click here to see Natalie Moorhead's photo's and you will see what Tom Lyle saw in this seductive, calculating actress!


Read more about Tom Lyle Williams and The Maybelline Company in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Maybellines "It Girl" Clara Bow unleashes the excitement of the Roaring 20's.

                                 

Between 1922 and 1929, Clara Bow's vitality and sexiness defined the liberated woman of the 1920s. Clara Bow (1906-1965) became one of Hollywood's brightest lights during this time. Click highlighted words to see and read more about Clara Bow. 

'The "It" Girl'.  "It" symbolized the tremendous progress women were making in society. 

 

Maybelline in 1922 came out with their own "It Girl" with an illustration of Clara Bow and coining the slogan "Eyes that Charm!  This ad influenced liberated young girls to take up the challenge of the 1920's and recreate the image of Women by wearing eye-makeup on the street. 
 
No three sisters were more influenced by the "It Factor" then my grandmother Evelyn and her sisters Verona and Bunny.
 

My great aunt Bunny at 18 in 1921 made a statement with this picture as she blatantly flaunted her acceptance of wearing makeup in broad daylight after bobbing her hair, raising the hem of her dress and rolling up her stockings.
 

Bunny in black silk

Bunny with rolled up stockings.

 Clara Bow brought an excitement to the screen and girls went bonkers taking on the spirit of the Roaring 20's.  Evelyn and her sisters were no exception and jumped on the Band Wagon right from the start.

The three sisters, Evelyn, Verona and Bunny in short black silk dresses and fully made up eyes were the torch bearers of their generation.  City girls, born in Chicago, educated as well as talented musicians and dancers they turned heads as they walked down the street or cruised in their daddy's flashy convertible.  The Boecher Girls were definitely influenced by Clara Bow and considered themselves having "It" as well!

Tribute to Clara Bow: The Pointer Sisters sing I Get So Excited  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rKPshnd_J8

Read more about the It Girl Clara Bow and the Boecher sisters in The Maybelline Story.

Check out this post I did on Clara Bow.

http://www.maybellinebook.com/2012/09/it-girl-clara-bow-passed-away-47-years.html

Miss Maybelline Capitalize's on the word chic!

Targeting the fashion-conscious young woman brought in a whole new breed of buyer—in droves.

In the mid-Thirties, fashion began to pull away from early Depression frumpiness, offering a fresh appeal to the younger generation, who gravitated towards a style of their own. Victorian plainness had grown tiresome despite the heavy influence of class-conscious women’s magazines, and young women eagerly thrust themselves into the full flow of Twentieth Century style. The sophistication of femme fatale movie stars such as Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich was changing fashion, and Maybelline offered an important key to the look. 

Lilly Daché herself appeared in a Maybelline ad--tasteful, yet glamorous, showcasing her combination of celebrity and fashion with a new line of Maybelline products including Cream Form Mascara. Magazines across the country carried a full-page ad of a younger woman in a fashionable Lilly Daché hat, eyes made up with Maybelline, along with an autographed photo picture of the famous milliner and copy designed to capitalize on the word chic.

Evelyn Williams with a friend in 1945.

Tom Lyle had not merely been flattering Evelyn when he pointed out she was right about hats highlighting a real change in trends. There was nothing sexier than flirty eyes slightly hidden behind the veil of a chic little hat worn at lunch with friends, or at a cocktail party in some penthouse.  

More about Evelyn and her influence over fashion, beauty and sophistication in The Maybelline Story.

Miss Maybellines secret for beautiful hair.

         Maybelline's very own Rosie the Riveter: 

Rosie the Riveter was one of the most widely known persona's of the 1940s. With her sleeves rolled up, hair in a kerchief, and a determined set to her jaw and eyes. Rosie had it all: beauty, sex appeal, and attitude. 
The Ad Council, at the government’s request, created Rosie the Riveter to persuade women to go to work and Rosie the Riveter with her can-do attitude become a feminist icon for all American girl's fighting to bring their man home from the War.  Every wife, mother, sister, aunt, cousin, girlfriend and fiance' took on the ambiance of strength and Independence - and no one more than my grandmother Evelyn, or Nana as I called her.  The only difference between Rosie and Nana was Rosie really went to work and Nana went to work on her famous beauty secrets that kept her looking forever young. 

Here she is, Maybelline's very own "Evelyn the Riveter!" Posing for posterity, never wanting to miss a trick, always the first to "keep up."  However I imagine she had just conditioned her hair and wanted to keep it under wraps for a while.  I remember Nana's famous homemade hair conditioners.  One was used to nourish and strengthen the hair with protein and one was used for deep moisturizing. 

Depending on what was needed after a good dye-job, a day in the sun which was rare because of Nana's flawless ivory skin, or just for the fun of it - she'd whip up a concoction that only thebrave of heart might try or someone obsessed with perfection and pleanty of time to experiment. 

Imagine warm Coconut Oil mixed with an egg yoke, whipped up like mayonnaise, poured on top of the head, massaged well into the scalp and bagged up for an hour.  Or even more bazaar, real mayonnaise with an extra hit of vitamin E to really seep deep into the shaft of the hair - again bagged up for an hour.  

And what did she do for an hour?  Well remember the egg white left over - she'd whip it up and paint it on her face of course!  Why waste a good egg white when you can tighten your skin at the same time!

I have tried Nana's conditioners and can say if you have the time, patience and can endure the mess they work big time.  So if any of you try Nana's beauty secret for deep conditioning the hair let me know what you think.  Oh also, use a moisture free shampoo twice after conditioning and maybe a "leave in" conditioner to comb through the hair. 

Humm, I think I have some Coconut oil and and an egg yoke come to think of it.  See you tomorrow for another great post - and don't forget to read my book and learn more about Nana - her obsession with beauty and those "Maybelline Times" of course!

Miss Maybelline's Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Speaking of Public Relation, I did a cooking segment on AM Arizona or AZTV last week.  I will be posting the show soon but in the mean time I'm posting my grandmother, Miss Maybelline's famous Pineapple Upside Down Cake I baked on the show.  Throughout The Maybelline Story, Evelyn, or Nana to me, makes this old time favorite for her family.

Here I am with my cousin Jackie Haines looking at Maybelline Family pictures some of which I have on the refrigerator behind me on the set of AZTV.  Jackie is Eva Haines (Tom Lyle's sister,) daughter in law, married to Eva's son Bob.  She like everyone in the family supports me in telling our family's story.  The Maybelline Story isn't just the story of a successful company, it's the story of a family who lived it, survived it and still thrive almost a 100 years later.  

One of the Host's from AM Arizona, Tonya Mock, was in the kitchen assisting me make Nana's Pineapple Upside Down Cake.   
You can see some pictures of Nana on the refrigerator.  Tonya has asked me to come back and make Nana's famous fluffy peach tapioca pudding, and I will be doing a series of Nana's favorite recipes.  But for now I'm posting her Pineapple Upside down Cake.  Try it you will love it!

      Nana's Pineapple Unside Down Cake in a skillet.


1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can 20 oz sliced pineapple
4 eggs separated
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Maraschino cherries

Directions

Melt butter in 10-12 in ovenproof skillet
Add brown sugar
Mix well until sugar is melted
Drain pineapple, reserving 1/3 cup juice
Arrange 8 pineapple slices in a single layer over sugar
Set aside
In a large bowl, beat eggs yolks until thick and lemon-colored
Gradually add sugar, beating well
Blend in vanilla and reserved pineapple juice
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt
Add to batter, beating well
In a small bowl, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form
Fold into batter.
Spoon into skillet
Bake at 375 for 30 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center is clean
Let stand for 10 minutes before inverting onto serving plate
Yield 10 servings and cost about $10. to make.



EXCERPT FROM THE MAYBELLINE STORY.

Once again it was Evelyn who stepped in. As soon as she heard the news about Noel, she drove to Tom Lyle's house, bearing his favorite home-made food: German pepper steak, sweet and sour cabbage, and pineapple upside-down cake. Although Tom Lyle didn't eat much, he appreciated her thoughtfulness, and her mere presence. They reminisced about Noel.
“I'll never get over it,” Tom Lyle said. “And how am I going to face Frances? She begged me for two years to do something about his work load.”
“What could you do?” Evelyn said. “Noel’s life was the company. You know that.”
Tom Lyle nodded. “There would be no Maybelline without him. He was Maybelline.”

Maybelline Story Public Relations by Michael Levine and LCO

LCO – Levine Communications Office has consistently won national awards in the last four decades. Since 1983, founder Michael Levine and LCO – Levine Communications Office have represented 58 Academy Award winners and some of the biggest names in entertainment.

For more information,
http://www.lcoonline.com/home/featured_client.html

Maybelline Story Press and Media with Levine Communication.

Maybelline profits go off the charts with actress Myrna Loy in 1934.

             Myrna Loy became "The Perfect Wife." 

In 1934 when Myrna Loy was cast opposite William Powell in
The Thin Man, based on Dashiell Hammett's novel -  (Click where highlighted.)  They became the quintessential 1930's couple. 

Myrna Loy, known as the Queen of Hollywood, the perfect wife, a living doll and the Queen of the movies was one of Hollywood's busiest and highest paid actresses, and in 1937 and 1938 she was listed in the annual "Quigley Poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars", which was compiled from the votes of movie exhibitors throughout the U.S. for the stars that had generated the most revenue in their theaters over the previous year. What more could Tom Lyle ask for to draw another target market The Wife, into the dime stores across the country to buy Maybelline.

Tom Lyle's genius with Maybelline was his ability to appeal to every type of woman and of course "The Wife" with her wholesome all American good looks was the perfect target market.  Myrna Loy illustrated here in black and white in 1934 looking rather modest yet made up like a movie star sold more Maybelline that year than ever before.  Her image ran throughout the 1930's until the Pinup Girls during the War years became Maybelline's image around the world. 

Maybe that's why when Tom Lyle, Emery, TJ and Billy went to the 1934 Chicago Worlds Fair that year Tom Lyle had to have the Dietrich custom bodied Packard. As you can see in the picture below Tom Lyle had superb taste in cars as his car is only one of five ever built in 1934.

Thanks in part to Myrna Loy's influence that year Tom Lyle had the confidence and flair as well as the money to flaunt Maybelline's success during the depths of the Depression. Tom Lyle was in good company however, since Al Jolson and Gene Sarazen, the famous golfer, also owned rare Vee Windshield Dietrich Packards.

Click here to see video of Myrna Loy and William Powell in The Thin Man and see why they became the power couple of the Depression.

When you think of the great automobiles from the 1930’s, very few can rival the class and elegance of the 1934 Packard Dietrich. More than any other car from this time, the Dietrich brings back memories of movie stars and financial money barons who traveled in affluent style and class.

Many Packard experts consider the 1934 Packard 12 to be the best overall year of Packard production. It has been said up until that time that Queen quality ruled over King price.

I wonder if that's where Emery got the idea for his famous Maybelline slogan,

                     Quality yet Sensibly Priced.

 Read more about Tom Lyle and his partner Emery Shaver and why they decided to leave Chicago in 1935 and live in Hollywood at the Villa Valentino.  Could it be the flash, the qlitz and glamour didn't fit in the gangster run city any longer?

Maybelline's own original Blond Bombshell, Jean Harlow!!

By the 1930's Tom Lyle needed a Super Star who could deliver the blow of a velvet hammer on a glamour-conscience public - a public ready to purchase Maybelline, no questions asked. 

Jean Harlow, 1933

Who better than Hollywood sex goddess Jean Harlow, known for her white satin gowns, ivory skin and platinum blond hair, she created the sparkle Tom Lyle was looking for.  Harlow's glamour had the ability to reachout and grab the attention of everyone in the audience and like Maybelline, she was not unreachable but human with an earthy sense of humor.  Tom Lyle realized Harlow's superb comedic persona and stunning looks made her the original blond bombshell and used her image to explode Maybelline out into the stratospheres.

With Maybelline easily accessible in dime stores by 1933, Tom Lyle used ads like this to illustrate Jean Harlow's heavily made up eyes and entice young women to seek their own movie star glamour.   Now anyone craving that Harlow magic could find it in Maybelline's newly carded wide range  of eye beautifying products - including Eyebrow Pencil, Eye Shadow, Eyelash Tonic Cream and a Special Eyebrow Brush for brushing and training lashes and brows.
There was no stopping the female market in the 1930's known as "The Art Deco Era" from being as appealing as Jean Harlow with her pencil thin eyebrows, irresistible allure and Star Quality Maybelline Eyes.  The average girl could now stop a train with her stunning made up Maybelline Eyes and feel as beautiful as any Hollywood film goddess. 

Click here to see Harlow and those Maybelline Eyes
in Dinner at Eight!!

http://www.dimoramotorcar.com/preview.html?URL=/content/videos/KenNorton.flv

Beginning of the Art Deco Era for Maybelline

Maybelline ad hits the stands as stock market crashes.

This is a very rare Maybelline Ad!  Look at the date this ad appeared in popular magazines. Oct 1929, was the month the stock market crashed!!  The October 1929 crash came during a period of declining real estate values in the United States (which peaked in 1925)  near the beginning of a chain of events that led to the Great Depression.

Sound familiar?  We are going through it again and Maybelline is still the number one eye cosmetic company in the world.  Even while other companies fail  Maybelline 
now -  Maybelline New York - continues to profit. 

As you can see Maybelline was selling for 75 cents in 1929, but by 1933 Tom Lyle dropped the price to 10 cents for a smaller size box and placed Maybelline in dime stores rather than mail order - thus making it available to all women.

Click here to watch a very short video about the Great Depression and imagine what Tom Lyle was thinking - how to keep Maybelline a float.

read more about Tom Lyle's marketing strategy and the beautiful ads he used to target every corner of the female market in The Maybelline Story.

He was truly The King of Advertising!