Maybelline - The Wonder Company of the 20th Century.

Maybelline's Success Story up until now was a lost thread in the American Fabric.

Tom Lyle Williams at 19 years of age in 1915.

By 1929 Tom Lyle Williams was spending $200,000 a year in advertising, with Maybelline ads appearing in forty popular magazines as well as Sunday newspaper supplements and specialized journals such as Theatre and Photoplay. Between 1915 and 1929, he’d spent over a million dollars to advertise Maybelline. His little eye beautifier now had wide distribution in the United States and Canada.  Everywhere you went, close-up photos of eyes darkened with Maybelline projected a provocative--but no longer sinful--eroticism.

Tom Lyle Williams in 1929,
from an article in a trade magazine.

In fact Tom Lyle had just launched his 1929 “Springtime is Maybelline Time!” campaign, featuring an idealized lovely young miss looking up adoringly at her man through starry eyes. The offers to vendors pitched display cartons, each holding a half-dozen eye makeup containers, and urged druggists to try product placement by the soda fountain, “forcing extra sales.” Tom Lyle felt that the ad would assure continued prosperity for the company, meaning he could afford to leave Maybelline in the hands of his brother Noel while he and Emery headed out to California for a few days.

On October 29, 1929, a news flash announced that the Dow industrial average had fallen almost twenty-three percent, and the stock market had lost a total of sixteen billion dollars in value in a month. Sixteen billion dollars.

Tom Lyle knew the stock market crash would be devastating for the country in general, and would certainly ruin many companies. Although Maybelline, as a family-owned business, was not directly affected by the Wall Street disaster, there was no question that the aftermath would be devastating. Who would choose to buy eye cosmetics over food for the family?


The prosperity and opulence of the Roaring Twenties were gone, disappearing along with the vamps who had loaded up with Maybelline’s seventy-five-cent product. In order to keep his company alive in the years to come, Tom Lyle knew he would have to find ways to keep his product in the public eye, yet at a price women could afford. The flashy, flapper look was quickly devolving to a more demure look fit for austere times.


Despite the national situation, he felt good about the future. In fact, when Noel showed him a story in The Wall Street Journal about a brand-new skyscraper being constructed over the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York--the Empire State Building, the tallest structure in the world--Tom Lyle took it as a sign that the bad economy would be only a temporary dip in the road.


He was rarely so wrong. When Emery suggested an ad tie-in to the Empire State Building--Things Are Looking Up, featuring young women with gorgeous eyes gazing up at a new skyscraper--Tom Lyle backed it enthusiastically...until it became clear that for most of the country, things were looking very much down. They abandoned the new ad campaign as the market continued to decline, wages plummeted, and credit dried up. When industrial production also collapsed, many businesses went with it.


But not Maybelline. Although innovative and widespread advertising was responsible for a lot of the company's success over the years, it was not the whole story. So was constant innovation in the lab, and that spring, thanks to the introduction of an improved waterproof eye makeup, total sales rose to $750,000--at a time when most businesses were struggling simply to keep their wallowing businesses afloat.


Read more about Maybelline's success during the worst economic downturn in American history and it's secret to becoming the most successful cosmetic company in the world in

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.


Thank you for following my blog, be sure to tell your friends  about it and also you can purchase an autographed copy directly from me for $14.99    Click on maybellinestory.com/.   Happy Reading!!


My cooking segment on AZTV will be posted next week as well as a half hour live radio interview on Voice of America.  So stay tuned.  Leave me a comment or an email at maybellinebook@gmail.com.

Maybelline founder...a generous benefactor.

No one was more generous than

Tom Lyle Williams.

Ten year old Bill Williams was selling magazine subscriptions in hopes of winning a new Schwinn two wheeler, but was having trouble competing with the other boys at school until he made his rounds at the Maybelline Company.  There he found a pot of gold when uncle Noel, uncle Chet, uncle Ches, Rags Ragland and all the rest of the Maybelline employees bought up half his orders.  Bill had one more call to make and was excited as he patiently waited in his uncle Tom Lyles office hoping to sell a few more subscriptions before heading home.  An hour went by and he almost fell asleep on the leather sofa when the door finally swung open and there stood the majestic figure of  uncle Lyle, or Unk Ile as he liked to called him.

Tom Lyle sat down at his over sized carved walnut desk and listened to the little speech Bill had prepared.  He thought for a minute than proceeded to give him a lecture about safety and riding a bike on the streets of Chicago.  Bill promised that if he won the bike he would always look both ways before crossing the street and would never pull out into traffic.  Once Tom Lyle was satisfied his nephew understood the dangers of owning a two wheeler, he took out his check book and wrote a check for the entire amount... Bill won the contest hands down and never forgot what his Unk Ile had done for him.

This is just a small example of the kind of man Tom Lyle was.  He always went beyond the call of duty for his family and everyone he knew for that matter and today though he is just a memory he will live in our hearts forever as a loving, generous angel.

You can read more about Tom Lyle, Noel James, Chet Hewes, Ches Haines, Rags Ragland and the Maybelline Company in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It. 

Thank you for continuing to follow my blog, and stay tuned for my cooking show on AZTV coming up soon, as well as my interview on Voice America next week.  (Check it out under events.) 

 

Miss Maybelline looking like a million bucks rocks the Wild West in 1935

                    Charm, Wit and Style
               Oh, Those Maybelline Days!

Bill and his Mother Evelyn.

A picture's worth a thousand words I hear. This picture was taken in 1935 while Preston, Evelyn and Bill were driving across the country from Chicago to California, on their way to see Tom Lyle and Emery at the Villa Valentino.  They had just stopped at an Indian Reservation where Evelyn bought two turquoise beaded wrist cuffs and a rawhide jacket with long fringed sleeves.   I can't imagine dressing up like that  on a road trip, can you?  They even slept in a pup tent once or twice and yet every morning they were up at the crack of dawn and my grandmother made up her face, styled her hair and dressed like a star.   This picture could easily be a scene from a movie, made on location in New Mexico... and how do you like that pose?  Forever the diva!!! 

Evelyn was a stickler for perfection and even altered her son Bill's shirts and pants if they didn't fit just right.  The two of them kept up that standard of style and panache until the day they died and if I faltered in any way or looked less than perfect - I'd have to hear about it.  How could anyone keep up that level of perfection on a daily basis?  you'd have a heart attack! - But the Williams were like that and always had "The Right Look," for every occasion. 

What happened to Glamour, Style and the Confidence to dress to the teeth?  I guess that's an American tradition that can only be enjoyed in vintage photos now.

I love this picture of my grandparents Evelyn and Preston Williams. You'd think they were Marlene Dietrich and Jimmy Stewart taking a break between scenes.   And they were on a long road trip for heaven sakes !  Today people wear t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops, no makeup and their hair going every which way, but in 1935 it was Showtime everyday and "People- Watching" was a national past-time, like the Macy's Day Parade.  Yes, those wonderful Maybelline Days when it was cool to look beautiful, dress with style and make-up those Maybelline Eyes.

The day my 82 year old father, Bill, fell and hit his head, having to have two brain surgeries and ultimately dying, he walked into the hospital looking like two million bucks and when the nurse said, "are you ready to go Mr. Williams," he simply winked at her and said, "OK BABY! 

Charm, Wit and Style right to the end.

I hope you're enjoying my posts - and will tell your friends to check them out as well.  Also don't forget to purchase an autographed copy of my book,

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It  at http://www.maybellinestory.com/.

Maybelline Diva Evelyn Williams - Oh What Price Glory!

There was no one in the Maybelline family more invincible than Evelyn Williams...at least that's what she wanted us all to believe.

My grandmother Evelyn with my father William Preston Williams at Dundee Military School, Chicago, 1934 -1935

With the same voratious appetite Evelyn had for succeeding in all areas of her life, including playing the violin, mastering the stage as a ballerina and finally securing a position within the Maybelline family, she focused on her only child William Preston Williams Jr. (Bill.)  

Evelyn wasn't your ordinary sweet homemaker, though she did love her son as ferociously as a mother Lion loves her cub, however her main objective was to instill a mindset for survival in the boy and that meant creating an indisputable bond between Bill and his uncle Tom Lyle Williams. 

She succeeded, though not  without making herself unpopular with the rest of the Williams family.  Evelyn fought on the battlefield of life in her persuit to win at all costs and today I realize my remarkable grandmother, the original auntie Mame, was two generations ahead of her time. 

A tiny 5' 2" powerhouse with boundless energy,   Machavellian mental machinations and the ability to outsmart the smartest of wild cats, she had one desire.  To place her clan at the top of the heap no matter what the price -and Evelyn paid the highest price of all... with her life! 

Read more about Evelyn Williams incredible story and her ability to get what she wanted - while growing even more beautiful and glamorus as she aged in

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.  

Nana was a diva in every respect and not only expected but demanded I follow in her footsteps. I wonder if she'd be pleased today with the fact I've dedicated my life to her memory and the family she loved so much. 

Maybelline Mascaraed Eyes in 1917? Not for the "Faint Of Heart!"

One word summed up Preston Williams and that word was Evelyn!  What was it about that woman that kept him fascinated for so many years?

Evelyn and Bunny Boecher, 1912

My grandmother wasn't just another pretty face looking for a meal ticket according to her.  Oh no!  She was not only beautiful, she was talented, tenacious and disciplined as well as a little cunning, competitive and ruthless truth be known.  Fine qualities for a man, but in 1917 not quite what most men wanted in a wife.  Evelyn cut her teeth on excelling and winning.  She constantly sought the attention of her strict German parents and old-world musical and dance teachers who called her a prodigy.

  My grandmother studied the violin from age 4 to 16 and was accepted into  Chicago's Musical College at an early age --- however she hated the idea of spending the rest of her life with an instrument glued to her left shoulder.  She adored Ballet and also studied with the finest teachers.  When it came time to decide her future she begged her parents to allow her to focus on ballet and they agreed only if she and her sister Verona, a talented pianist, and her little sister Bunny a gifted trumpet player, continued to entertain with their little trio at parties in the family ballroom on the third story of their Chicago brownstone.  

Oct 27, 1917 Fred, Evelyn and her sister Verona and Charlie Stroh

Verona and Charlie, with Fred and the fabulous Evelyn, 1917

 All three girls of course agreed but when Evelyn was accepted into The Ballets Russes in 1917, at age 16 she was finally allowed to put down her violin and tour across the country with one of the most influential theatre companies of the 20th century.  Evelyn's natural talent, grace and beauty set her apart from most young women in her generation and she lived in a glamours world of ground-breaking artists, contemporary choreographers, composers and dancers.  She learned to interpret Classical, Neo-Classical, Romantic, Neo-Romantic, Avant-Garde, Expressionist, Abstract, and Orientalist styles of dance while also finishing her high school diploma with a tutor on the road with her.  

I'm sure that when Preston Williams saw Evelyn Boecher with her sister Bunny, walking down the street at the 1922 Memorial Day Parade, he must have said to himself,  Wow what a Woman! 

And don't forget since Evelyn was used to wearing stage makeup she was quite comfortable with her eyes heavily made up with Maybelline while most young girls were still a bit faint of heart being seen in public with heavily mascaraed lashes.   

Evelyn and Preston with my dad, William Preston Williams Jr., 1925

Read more about the fascinating love affair between Evelyn and Preston Williams, in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind it.

Caution, don't read before going to bed!  you won't be able to stop turning the pages and may loose sleep!

Tom Lyle's son takes his name and joins the Maybelline Co.

Tom Lyle's son Cecil Anderson changes his name to Tom Lyle Williams.

Tom Lyle Williams and Cecil Anderson, 1925.

No one loved his son more than Tom Lyle loved Cecil Anderson. He gave as much time and attention as any father living at a distance running a mega-company could possibly give.  However It was a hard situation and Tom Lyle worried that he should have done more.  When Cecil Anderson graduated high school and was accepted into Duke University he asked his father if he could change his name to Tom Lyle Williams. Of course he could and Tom Lye was not only honored, he felt relieved that he had succeeded at being the kind of father his son could be proud of. 

After graduation from Duke University where Tom Jr. had been Captain of the Football Team, he joined his father at the Maybelline Company where he worked for over 30 years helping expand the company overseas and making Maybelline the largest eye cosmetic company in the world.    

Tom Lyle Williams and Tom Lyle Williams Jr.  1934

Read more about Tom Lyle Jr. and his desire to expand the Maybelline Company internationally in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.


Thank you for following the Maybelline Blog and I hope you enjoy my book as much as I loved writing it.

Sharrie Williams

Maybelline Roars as the American Dream unfolds in the 1920's.

By 1925 Maybelline was thriving as more and more women entered the workplace and exercised their purchasing power. The company’s advertising budget had reached $15,000 a month, and profits accumulated at ever-growing rates


The family was thriving, too. A period of prosperity and good times blanketed the entire Williams clan, but no one enjoyed it more than Tom Lyle's brother Noel - the driving force behind the Maybelline Company -  Noel James Williams felt the glow of success as Vice President of Maybelline that year and Tom Lyle depended on his down to earth decision making older brother to help "skyrocket Maybelline to the moon," during the prosperous 1920's. 


There was one other reason Noel felt on top of the world that summer of 1925 - after two darling daughters, Helen and Annette, Frances had given him his boy!  Baby Noel Allen Williams was a golden haired boy and the pride and joy of his successful father.  He was to grow up like a Prince, never knowing the harsh reality America and the rest of the world would face five years later when the stock market crashed.  But for now, America and Maybelline enjoyed it's "Hay Day," and it was a time for big dreams, big cars and big futures.

Read more about Noel James Williams enormous contribution to the Maybelline Compnay during the prosperous 1920's in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind it 

Thank you for following my blog and tell your friends!   
Sharrie Williams.

Maybelline's Black Sheep - Preston Williams.



Preston, Eva, Tom Lyle, Mabel, Noel, Susan and Sheriff T.J., 1916.

 Tom Lyle's brother Preston has no interest in being part of the Maybelline company.

Preston in front with Ches Haines, 1922.

Why was that? After all he had every opportunity to become part of the executive team for the Maybelline Company.  Oh, if only Preston had shown a little passion or devotion for the family business!  You'll have to read The Maybelline Story for the full scoop about my grandfather Preston but for now here are a few clues into his early years and why he  did it HIS WAY. 

As a child Preston envisioned himself heading out West searching for high adventure and had no desire to  work the family farm in Kentucky.  He was forever attracting trouble, though preferred periods of isolation where he might master his thoughts while fishing, hunting rabbits in the woods or just reading about cowboys while perched on a tree limb next to the barn.  Needless to say he was all boy and detested any restraints put on his free spirit.  However, his refusal to submit to his father T.J. brought  sure and swift consequences.

As Sheriff, TJ was likely to lock boys who got “too big for their britches” in a jail cell for an overnight stay.  Breakfast the next morning was served only after repentance had been made. But no matter what the punishment, Preston proved a hard nut to crack, and his willful behavior often drove T. J. into a rage. 

My great grandfather, Sheriff T.J., tried everything to break my grandfather's wild streak - from extended lectures, whippings, to finally the jail cell with no dinner - but Preston didn't care and when his father was out of sight, he simply pulled out a dime-novel rolled up in his pocket, leaned back and read about the Wild West or dreamed about Tom Mix in his latest Western movie....  

My grandfather ran off and joined the navy at 17 during the Great War, World War 1, only to return a broken man with PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Read more about Preston's wild adventures that left a wake of destruction in my family for generations to come, in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Preston Williams, 23 in 1922.



Maybelline - The Original Mad Men in the Cosmetic and Advertising Industry.

Maybelline's original Mad Men - Pioneers in the Cosmetic Industry - Masters in the Art of Advertising!

Three generations of Maybelline executives and the original Mad Men.  Left to right, Thomas Jefferson Williams, his son Tom Lyle Williams, his son Tom Lyle Williams Jr., Chet Hewes, (Mabel Williams husband,) Ches Haines, (Eva Williams husband,) and Noel James Williams.

If The Maybelline Story were a movie these six men would make up some of the leading characters. They were not only the forefathers and founders of the Maybelline company, they were pioneers in the cosmetic industry and helped develop the art of advertising as it's known today.  

Way before the fictional Mad Men series set the world on fire, creating a mega advertising company in New York in the 1960's, there where the original Mad Men of Chicago set in the early half of the 20TH Century, -  Maybelline's Mad Men carved out the first game-plan and set up the rules for the cosmetic and advertising industry as a whole.

If you loved Mad Men the AMC series, about a fictional advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City, you will love The Maybelline Story about a family who birthed the cosmetic and advertising industry in 1915 through 1967. 

Tom Lyle Williams was not only an Ad-man pioneer, or cosmetic executive - he was very instrumental in the creation of the Star System as we know it!  The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It, helps paint the whole story of Tom Lyle Williams and his immense and incredible contributions to Hollywood as a whole and deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.  Stay tuned up updates on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decision in June.



Tom Lyle and his partner Emery Shaver in Hollywood, 1936.



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