Maybelline money made dreams come true for everyone in 1968.

The Transformation began in 1968, as the families took on  new lifestyles, matching dreams that were now reality..

My father Bill Williams was 44 when Maybelline sold, and by the time he reached his 45 Birthday, he was in full swing of making his dreams come true.  Here he is on his 45th Birtday, with my sister Billee on her 13th Birthday and our grandfather, Andy Mac Donald, on his 78th, in Nov, 1968.

The first thing my dad wanted was a 48 foot yacht, a house on the water in Newport Beach California and a whole new identity, "Captain Bill of Lido Isle."

My dad, Captain Bill, standing outside his mother's apartment on Lido Isle, looking at the bay in 1969.

A natural builder and designer my dad bought a double lot on Lido Isle in 1968, tore down the old home, built two matching homes, one for us on the right, and one to sell.  He was now a millionaire, builder, captain, and prey for every gold digger in Newport Beach.   

Too handsome and too young to have so much money in a time when most people on Lido had earned their money and were much older.  This new breed of new money was looked down on, and boy did we stand out in 1969 with new cars, flashy clothes and parties all the time. 

Evelyn Williams, my Nana, at 67, soon after she got her check in the mail from the sale of the Maybelline Company.    

The phone rang in our house, as we too, were looking at the figure on the check that had just come in the mail.  "I'm a millionaire," she screamed on the phone, "can you believe it."

Noel and Jean Williams celebrated the good news by flying to Maui, Hawaii and buying a condo on the water in Lahaina.  When Jean saw the check the day it came in the mail, she ran down the hallway of their home in Encino, California, screaming,  "I'm rich!!!" 

Read more about the Hay-Day that took place in the family after Tom Lyle sold the Maybelline Company and changed every one's lives, in The Maybelline Story and don't forget to check out www.maybellinestory.com for a signed copy from me.  Thanks for telling your friends to check into the Maybelline Blog.

$100,000,000 given to CARE and Salvation Army by Maybelline founder.

The Tom Lyle Williams Foundation, still gives to charity, 43 years after the sale of the Maybelline Company.

Tom Lyle Williams, with his niece Annette Williams-Corbett, in 1968, after the sale of the Maybelline Company.  Like her uncle, Annette believed in preserving her new wealth through non-profit foundations.  She worked as a secretary for the Maybelline Company before marrying George Corbett in the late 1940's and continued to have a unique relationship wih her boss (and uncle,) incorporating his values throughout her long life.  Tom Lyle believed that the more he gave to others, the more came back to him, 10 fold.  "Don't lend money if you can't afford to give it, with no expectation of return," was a statement he lived by his entire life.  His fondation still gives and lives on today helping those in need.

Read more about Tom Lyle and his unusual generosity  in The Maybelline Story.  Also we still have a few Tama Bags and Maybelline book, at http://www.maybellinebook.com/ for $50.  A good portion of profit from the bag and book goes to Instruments 4 Africa to help young girls in Mali, West Africa, have the opportunity gain an education. 

The Millionaires next door, with Maybelline money.

After 53 years of building the Maybelline Company, Tom Lyle sells to Plough Inc. and divides the profits among his family. 

Tom Lyle in the middle with his niece Marilyn (Williams-Haines), her husband John Gary and three of their 6 kids, Bobby, Lori and Cindy in Bel Air, 1968.

We all received an unexpected check in the mail that   changed our lives overnight.  It was like winning the lottery.  We were now millionaires and though

 Tom Lyle asked that the money be preserved

 for future generations in safe investments, the race

 was on to create extravagant lifestyles.  We were rich

 in a time when money was worth something and luxuries could be bought at uninflated prices.  So the estates, cars, yachts, jewelry, clothes, that would be untouchable at today's prices were attainable

 45 years ago.                   

The fun of it was, there was no competition or

jealousy within the families, because we were all equally wealthy and and able to do most anything we wanted. 

If you're curious to know what we did, you'll have to read The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.  Buy a signed copy at http://www.maybellinestory.com/.                

                                                                                                    

                                                                                                              

An exhausted Tom Lyle Williams let's go of Maybelline in 1967.

Maybelline Company sells to Plough Inc. December 1967, after exhausting 11th hour negotiations seals deal, with cash-heavy pharmaceutical corporation.

This picture was taken soon after the sale of the Maybelline Company.  You can see a very weary, almost sad expression on Tom Lyle's face.  Notice the stacks of papers, perhaps reports on Plough's financial history as well as global magazines featuring Maybelline ads.   He and Tom Lyle Jr., worked 18 hour day's with Abe Plough, founder and owner of Plough Inc, making a deal that benefited 26 familes beyond their wildest imagination.   He was a truly great man with a passionate heart for those he loved.

One of Tom Lyle's first gorgeous Silent Film Star's Gloria Swanson, endorses Lash-Brow-Ine, the product that preceded Maybelline in 1915.  Tom Lyle will always be remembered in the cosmetic industry as the King of Advertising, a creative genius with an eye for what women want.

Read more about Tom Lyle and Emery's lunch with Gloria Swanson, at the Polo Club, in the Beverly Hills Hotel, 1928, in The Maybelline Story and get your signed copy today at maybellinebook.com. 

Maybelline Story helps young girls in Mali, Africa, gain an education.

Here I am with my friends Paul Chandler and Tama Walley, the founders of Instruments 4 Africa, looking at a few vintage pictures of old Hollywood in The Maybelline Story.  Tama and Paul head back to Mali, West Africa in a couple of weeks after spending the Summer raising money for their charity.  Paul plans to film a documentary on tribal instruments and Mallian music, that is on the verge of being lost forever.  I will keep you posted on his progress.  A portion of the Maybelline Story goes to help young girls in Mali gain an education and study their cultural arts. 

Sharrie's One Woman Show Sept 7th, Beverly Hills Women's Club.

Sharrie will be performing her One Woman Show about The Maybelline Story Sept 7th, at the Beverly Hills Women's Club.              Information will be posted on

how to purchase tickets.  

L'Oreal Paris purchased Maybelline and it's now called Maybelline New York.

Maybelline Company sells to Plough Inc. Dec. 1967.

Maybelline ads in 1967 were all about the ingenue, false eye lashes and fake hair.


Maybelline ad below was on the back of this cover in Dec, 1967

Maybelline introduces false eye lashes in 1967

False eye lashes created the big eye look that would really bloom in 1970.

I bleached my hair back blond, wore a "Fall, (fake hair,) and fell in love with false eye lashes, even wore up to three pair, two on top and one on the bottom.  Here I am on my 20th Birthday, right after filming 5 days of a show called Dream Girls.  We had no Idea Unk Ile was in serious negotiations to sell Maybelline this year.

My mom, Pauline, with her new Datson 2000 roadster convertible, bought in 1967. 

Cousin Chuck Williams, aka BB1, with his girlfriend Kathy, her little brother Michael and his dad, Noel Allen, Dec. 1967, leaving the hotel to catch a plane to Maui, Hawaii. The negotiations for the sale of Maybelline were in the 11th hour at the time this picture was taken. Our lives were about to radically change overnight.                         

My dad Bill, Unk lle and Nana at our house on Christmas Day, 1967.  Unk Ile was with us from 5 o'clock in the evening until 5 o'clock in the morning.  He knew the sale was complete and never mentioned it once.  We would get the shock of our lives in Jan. when a check came in the mail making all five original families multi-millionaires.   

The details of the sale of Maybelline to Plough Inc are spelled out in The Maybelline Story, I hope you get your copy today.  Buy a signed copy from me at http://www.maybellinestory.com/.  Also check my new bio picture, just click biography on the tap on my website. 

Maybelline Model? Not meant to be for me in 1966.

Maybelline switched gears in 1966 and focused on a more natural, softer teenage image.

                             Maybelline ad, 1966.

Nana, my dad Bill, me with dyed black hair and Unk Ile - Christmas at our house, 1965.  As Maybelline ads became softer and more natural, I screamed sexy and exotic.  Not good for an 18 year old as it turned out.

My grandmother  had convinced me to dress up for Christmas in a black cocktail dress, heals and of course my Chicken of the Sea hair-do.  When Unk Ile took one look at me he said, "My god, Sharrie, you look like your 35." 

Was that a good or bad thing?  I wasn't sure, but it wasn't what Maybelline was going for, targeting the teenage market in 1966.  In fact, Tom Lyle wanted just the opposite, soft, natural and sweet.  So my hopes of becoming the next teen Maybelline model were smashed. 

Nana watched me mope around a while, than said, "Sharrie, Darling, why don't you go back to Chicago next summer and stay with your aunts and uncles, meet your cousins and and get to know the Chicago branch of the family.
.

My spirits lifted and I was on my way.  Here I am, Queen of the super rollers, with my sister, Donna with pin straight surfer girl hair - happy to see me go for the summer, so she could drive my 57 Chevy to the beach everyday and surf.  I over packed for every occasion and was excited to take my first plane ride back to where it all began.

Exotic and over dressed for every ocassion in Chicago.

Nana encouraged me to take notes so I could document my trip in a long letter to Unk Ile when I got back.  I did, and those notes helped me write part of a book I'd  publish 45 years later, about my American, Dream Family.  When my house burned down in 1993 most of my pictures of the trip were lost.  However, one, the picture of auntie Eva and uncle Ches at their home on Mercer Lake survived.

uncle Ches and auntie Eva at their home on Mercer Lake.  It was here, as well as with Auntie Mabel and uncle Chet, Aunt Verona and Aunt Bunny, that the Maybelline Story, began to unfold.  A world gone by opened up with pictures, letters, and precious memories handed to me for safe keeping.  I began to piece together a family story like no other and though the result would take a lifetime, I finally made my dream come true in September of 2010, when The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It was published by Bettie Youngs Books.

Memories of Mabel and Chet on their Wedding Day,  Tom Lyle Williams, aka Unk Ile to us,  Maybelline eye shadow in the 1930's and an original Maybelline ad from 1925.

After two wonderful months of getting to know my aunts, uncles and cousins, I returned to California, (as you can see I don't look very happy about it.)  I wanted to stay in Chicago and start college, but my parents insisted I come home.  So here I am at the airport, with my mother, Pauline, My dad, Bill, Nana and little Preston and Billee.  I did keep a diary and wrote a 25 page letter to Unk Ile.  He was quite impressed with my writing and said, "Sharrie, you certainly have a way with words, I think you'd make a great copy writer, like Emery, someday." 

Read more about my trip to Chicago, and meet the amazing Williams family yourself in my book, The Maybelline Story.  I guarantee you, you won't be able to put it down, because you'll want to know, "OK,  what happened next!"

Original Maybelline Family in 1916, and 1966.

Maybelline's complete line of eye make-up in 1966, everything a girl needed for extraordinary definition, color and style.


1966, Maybelline Ad.

 

The original Williams Family in 1916 the year
Maybelline was introduced to the public.

My grandfather William Preston lll, Eva Kaye, Tom Lyle, Mabel Anna, Noel James and their parents, Susan Anna (Alvey,) and Thomas Jefferson Williams.

The remaining siblings from the original Williams family, at Tom Lyle's estate in Bel Air 1966.

Mabel Williams Hewes, Tom Lyle Williams and

Eva Williams Haines.  with Tom Lyle's dogs,

 Miss Snoop E. Wiliams and Sparky.

I flew to Chicago in 1966 and spent the summer with my Auntie Mabel, Auntie Eva, my Nana's sister's, Aunt Verona and Aunt Bunny.  Check in tomorrow for pictures and be sure to read The Maybelline Story to get the details about this American Dream Family from 1910 to 2010

Maybelline coins the word Ultra for Beauty.

"Ultra Brow Brush-On is the Secret" the ad read in 1965, and a new word for Beautiful was coined by Maybelline.

The Ultra Girl takes the place of the IT Girl, in 1965

Here I am on the left with my sister Donna,
 the Ultra Saffrons.

With my best friend Pearl.  Senior's in High School and me with dreams of becoming a Maybelline Model.

So when I graduated I drove my blue and white hard top 57 Chevy straight up to Unk-Ile's and asked him point blank if I could be a Maybelline Model.  He said I certainely had the the eyes, the personality,
and the talent, but, that if he let me have such a special position it would cause jealousy with the rest of the girls in the family.  "But, Sharrie," he said, "if you go to college and get a degree in Marketing I will open every door for you!"


Did I take my great uncle's advise, knowing he had the power to take me straight to the top of the ad game?  What do you think?  What would you have done? 


If you want the full story please get your copy of
The Maybelline Story today and find out if I made the right decision or not.

ULTRA LASH IS BORN IN 1964.



 

In 1964 Ultra Lash became the most popular mascara in the world.                                                                                                       

17 and coming into my own identity.

1964 was a turning point, as far as kids my age

were concerned, partly because the Beatles brought in such a huge English influence. 

My great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, was concerned foreign markets targeting youth, might overtake Maybelline's position someday.              

Maybelline had controlled 75% of the eye beauty market for over 50 years, and was the only eye make up allowed behind the Iron Curtain, but without Emery, Unk Ile decided to sell the company.

                                                         

It would take years to find a buyer willing to pay the asking price, but he decided to put the word out.           

So what happened?  Well that would be giving away the Maybelline Story wouldn't it!!  Find out by ordering your copy today.                                                                             

Rudolph Valentino's pool tile, 1940.

Tom Lyle gave this piece of tile to his sister Eva, who used it as a hot plate for years before passing it on to her daughter Marilyn, who eventually gave it to her first born son Richard Gerald, who is still using it as a hot plate today.  Just a little fun trivia from the Maybelline Family.

Eva (Williams) and Chester Haines, 45th Wedding Anniversary, 1969 and the family.

Front row L to R, Marilyn, Jackie, Peter Haines, Cindy Gary, Mathew Haines, Eva & Chester
Next row, Richard Gerald, John Gary, Bob Haines, Chris Haines, Jay Haines, Bob Westhouse, Steve Haines, Dave Westhouse & Kathy Gary, Mitch Haines & Lori Gary on the staircase.

More Maybelline Vintage ads and family lore tomorrow.  If you want to know more about this amazing family and the company they helped launch in 1915, be sure to order a signed copy at http://www.maybellinestory.com/.  Also Tama Bags are available for purchase with a copy of The Maybelline Story now.

A great story about the beautiful mortals

By Holly - This review is from: The Maybelline Story: ...and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It (Paperback)


I was only casually acquainted with the glamorous woman at the center of this saga. I was 22 years old in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and she was a brilliant but oddly vulnerable creature on the outer boundaries of my life then. This book answers so many questions I have had about her for many years. I am so glad it exists, and even more glad that it was written in a dynamic and thrilling style. The man who may be partially responsible for her death has been aptly described by the author. This book captures the legend that surrounded the woman and her family, and it is a great page-turner.


More importantly, the shining character of the remarkable Tom Lyle Williams guides this book. Anyone interested in the fashion world and the power of artifice will absolutely relish each and every chapter, to the very tumultuous end of the story.

Thank you for following the Maybelline Blog!!! 

Maybelline in a time of innocence.

"Remember, for purity and complete confidence in your eye make-up, insist on Maybelline."

Maybelline Ad before the product line changed in 1964.

My sweet little sister, Billee Rae Williams, on the right, at her First Communion in 1964.

 Top left, my sister Donna,  me, my cousin Nancy.
Bottom left, Cousin Chuck, (aka BB1,) holding my brother Preston, my sister Billee and cousin Jimmy.


In 1964 it was still a time of purity and innocence in America. Some say the 1950's didn't end until 1965.

After  President John F. Kennedy was killed in November of 1963, changes began to take place at a rapid pace.

Read more about the Maybelline Family and the radical changes that catapulted them into a new life, good, bad or indifferent. 

Here is what my sister Billee is up to today, http://www.maybellinebook.com/2013/12/shape-up-with-dancing-with-stars-karina.html

Here's what Chuck Williams is up to today,  http://www.maybellinebook.com/2014/01/maybelline-heir-chuck-williams-carries.html

Be sure to visit my 1964 Saffrons Rule Blog, taken directly from my personal diary at http://saffronsrule.com/

1964 PBS

1964 was the year the Beatles came to America, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, and three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. It was the year when Berkeley students rose up in protest, African Americans fought back against injustice in Harlem, and Barry Goldwater’s conservative revolution took over the Republican Party. In myriad ways, 1964 was the year when Americans faced choices: between the liberalism of Lyndon Johnson or Barry Goldwater’s grassroots conservatism, between support or opposition to the civil rights movement, between an embrace of the emerging counterculture or a defense of traditional values.

Maybelline family rollin' in suburbs 1960s style..

1962, was all about heavily made up, Breakfast at Tiffany's Eye's and Audrey Hepburn Up-Do's, even in the suburbs.

                                                Maybelline Ad in 1962.

Sharrie Williams in 1962, at 15, with first long stem roses from a boy.  Little home maker in a ruffled apron.  At least the hair and makeup was right on!

A couple of my favorite little guys, my little brother Preston Williams, sitting on Daddy's T-Bird,

and my little cousin Jimmy Williams (Noel Allen's son) relaxing by his pool with Frenchie the poodle.

While Unk Ile was in Bel Air spinning dreams for the family's future, we led normal everyday lives in the burbs during the 1960's.  Now, the 70's would be another story, but you'll have to read The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It to catch all the action after the Maybelline Company sold in Dec. 1967.

Order a signed copy from maybellinestory.com and thank you for following my Blog!