Gatsbyesque Wedding at Bernard Maybeck estate, in 1976

Bernard Maybeck estate creates the perfect setting for a nostalgic Great Gatsby Wedding.

Built in 1915 for the Ambassador of England, Noel A. and Jean Williams bought the Maybeck estate in 1968, and gave the Wedding of the year for their daughter Nancy in 1976. Here is a picture of Nancy's brother,
Chuck Williams, aka, BB1, with Sloop John B, in 1971.

Chuck, Williams, Sloop John B, and Nancy Williams, 1971, in one of the many gardens surrounding the Bernard Maybeck estate.

The most romantic, garden Wedding of 1976.

Chuck, ushers his mother, Jean Williams down the isle.

The Bride, Nancy Williams now Mrs. Paul Clark.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Clark on the dance floor.

Nancy's uncle, Bill Williams with Nancy Williams Clark,

Bill Williams, future wife, Gloria Rosan,

John Williams-Huber and Bill Williams.

Maybeck made generous use of exposed beams, unpainted finish, huge fireplaces and clerestory windows. Above all else he loved redwood;

he had also a strong feeling for concrete. Using his materials with great craftsmanship, at the same time he took full advantage of technology.

Maybeck believed, as did his internationally famous contemporary, Frank Lloyd Wright, that the home should blend in with the natural landscape that surrounds it.

Throughout Maybeck's life his great wish was to be understood by the man in the street and to give him a sense of delight.

Bernard Maybeck, like so many entrepreneur's, of the early 20th century, were simple men with enormous creativity and larger than life vision.

A few come to mind, including:

Tom Lyle Williams - Maybelline,
Erte - design and fashion,
Flo Ziegfeld - Follies
F.Scott Fitzgerald novels,
especially, The Great Gatsby.

Read more about the family that brought you Maybelline, in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind it.

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.

Art Deco, avant-garde, slightly naughty, glamour..

Erte', the father of Art Deco, inspired these glamorous 1930s, Maybelline ads,

Art Deco was also, The Great Gatsby and High Society.

Art Deco, from 1920 -1940, represented modernism, the jazz age, streamlined design and elegance.

Art Deco was about turning life into art, It was glamour, Avant-Garde, and breaking away from old world thinking, after WW 1.

Hollywood is Art Deco. Glamour's Golden Age.

A salute to Art Deco.

Art Deco summed up Tom Lyle Williams and Maybelline.

Ziegfield, 1920s nudes, considered fine art today..

While some deem Maybelline, "The Provence of Whores," Erte' and Ziegfeld make it mainstream.

Erte' Queen of the night.

Ziegfeld Follies, Chorus girls.

Maybelline, during the early 1920's, received bad press, primarily because it was worn by ladies of the night. However, when the Gibson Girl, transformed into the Ziegfeld Girl, Maybelline took off.

Ziegfeld Girl, Silent Film Star and Maybelline model, Louise Brooks - a front runner for the emerging flapper in the early 1920's.

Louise Brooks, 1920s, Ziegfeld Girl.

Alfred Cheney Johnston was the official photographer of the Zeigfeld Follies. His portraits of the

Zeigfeld Girls are considered fine art today.

Jazz Age Beauty, Louise Brooks.

Maybelline targeted the emerging flapper market, with illustrations of Louise Brooks.

Erte' nude, Ziegfeld Girl.

Ziegfeld Girl, Paulette Goddard.

Alfred Cheney Johnston's, photograph of Ziegfeld Girl, and future wife of Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard.

Paulette Goddard, Ziegfeld Girl, and major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s.

Paulette Goddard,

Paulette Goddard's, stage debut was in the Ziegfeld revue, No Foolin in 1926. She was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. She also did several color, full page, Maybelline ads in the 1930s and 1940s.

During the 1920s, Tom Lyle began using Hollywood actresses to endorse Maybelline. It was a brilliant marketing decision, and skyrocketed Maybelline mascara, out of back alleys and into every girls purse.

Jazz Age, 1920s click on video.

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.

Happy 2012 from Sharrie Williams and The Maybelline Story

Happy New Year!!!! I'm starting 2012 off with Erte's fabulous, 1920's Art Deco illustrations, and pictures of the most beautiful girls in the world!!!

I found this incredible Fresco painted in 1927, on a wall at the Hassayampa Inn, in down town Prescott, Arizona. It captures the Erte, Art Deco era, just as women were coming out of their shell and making a statement, by wearing Maybelline for the first time.

Between 1915–1937, Erte designed over 200 covers for Harper's Bazaar, and his illustrations appear in

such publications, as Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal and Vogue. Interesting fact, Lash-Brow-Ine and Maybelline, first appeared in these magzines at the same time.

His delicate figures and sophisticated, glamorous designs are instantly recognisable, and his ideas and art still influence fashion into the 21st century. His costumes, programme designs, and sets were featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1923.

Tom Lyle Williams also captured the spirit of Art Deco, in his exquisite, Lash-Brow-Ine, and Maybelline Ads in the 1920s. This one features Gloria Swanson,

the Queen of Silent Films, Art Deco Era.

Erte Clip, click on Video

Stay tuned this week, for more interesting, vintage Hollywood news. Wishing all my followers, from the 99 countries, who have checked into the Maybelline Blog, a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2012!!!

Remembering New Years Eve, past!!!

Bill Williams, Gloria Rosan, Noel A. and Jean Williams, 1976.

Bill and Gloria Williams married New Years Eve, 1979, at Jean and Noel A. Williams, home
in Montecito California

Charity event together at the Coral Casino, in Santa Barbara, California, 1981.

Noel A., Jean, Gloria and Bill Williams on an Alaskan Cruise, in 1993 a few months before Noel A. passed away in 1994, from heart complications.

The two couples had spent the last 18 years together living a quieter lifestyle after the wild 1970's. Especially Bill Williams, after marrying Gloria. She slowed him down and added years to his life.

Bill and Jean Williams both died in 2006, and Gloria followed them in 2009. They are greatly missed by their children and grandchildren today.

Happy New Years Eve, 2011, Wishing all of you around the world a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!!!

Monster Ball 1975, Lady Gaga quotes "They were born that way" Lady Gaga Joanne Tour Dates 2017; Concert Tickets

https://maineventspecials.com/lady-gaga-tour-dates/

Click on link for tickets to Lady Gaga concert from Main Event specials

Maybelline Heir, Bill Williams and his girlfriend, Earnie Quarantello, looking like a couple of monsters,

Maybelline Heir, Noel A. Williams, with his wife Jean and a friend, at a Charity Monster Ball in 1975.

Lady GaGa presents THE MONSTER BALL TOUR, at Madison Square Garden. singing Bad Romance.
Click on video.

Lady Gaga - Born This Way

WRITTEN BY LADY GAGA. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: VINCENT HERBERT. DIRECTED BY NICK KNIGHT. CHOREOGRAPHY BY LAURIE ANN GIBSON.

7 min - Feb 27, 2011

Truth is, it seemed like my family were The Munsters!!! Especially when we'd all pile into my dad's 1970 Limo, with its big flashing fins, and park in the drive-in under a full moon. I actually remember my dad howling like the wolfman. He was the funniest guy I ever knew. He and his cousin Noel A. were true comedians when they got together. I miss all the monsters, now that they're gone.

Read more about the Williams family monsters in my book, The Maybelline Story. Its a fright night in parts!!!

Also I haven't forgotten the Hedy Lamarr make-up bags. They will be here soon.

Maybe the Williams were born that way,
or
Maybe its Maybelline!!

Playboy Club, 1975

Playboy Club in the ABC entertainment center, Los Angeles. Ernie Quarantello, Noel A. Williams, Bunny Suzanne, Mrs. Frank Kearney, Jean Williams, Judge Frank Kearney, and Bill Williams.

For my father's generation, going to the Playboy Club, in the 1970's, and seeing the sexy Bunny's tail, was a big kick. Not so much for my generation.

Bill's daughters, Donna, Sharrie and Billee Williams at Casa de Guillermo, 1976.

Though I actually wanted to be a Playboy Bunny in the late 1960's. By 1975 I was married to a young Attorney and only interested in climbing the ladder of success.

It's all in my book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

The Maybelline Story Blog