A Beautiful Heart As Seen Through Beautiful Eyes

Miss Maybelline, Evelyn Boucher Williams, was a woman of elegance, wit, and unmistakable style. According to her granddaughter Sharrie, Evelyn never left the house without her makeup on—especially her Maybelline mascara.

If you arrived before she was ready, you waited.

“Darling, I’m not ready yet,” she might call from the other room, as though that settled the matter completely.

And it did.

Evelyn understood the importance of making an entrance. Before she faced the world, the lipstick had to be right, the hair had to be in place, and those beautiful eyes had to have their mascara. Only then was Miss Maybelline ready.

She could be extremely aggravating, Sharrie remembers, but Evelyn had a marvelous sense of humor. She could make you laugh when you were determined not to, and somehow, when life seemed at its worst, she could find the one little bit of light everyone else had overlooked.

“Nana would always tell me, ‘Let a smile be your umbrella.’”

It wasn’t merely something Evelyn said. It was how she lived.

Whatever happened, she rose to the occasion. You put yourself together. You lifted your chin. You found something to laugh about. And, if necessary, you sang.

It became almost a cardinal rule in the family.

When Sharrie needed encouragement, Evelyn always seemed to know what to say.

“Darling, sing the old songs,” she would tell her. “Sing something like ‘Pennies from Heaven.’ Those are the ones people want to hear.”

You can almost hear her saying it—the “Darling,” the certainty in her voice, the gentle insistence that no matter what troubles the day had brought, there was still a song worth singing.

That was Evelyn.

She didn't deny that life could be difficult. She simply refused to let difficulty have the last word.

There was always another reason to smile, another joke to make, another song to sing—and another occasion worth putting on your mascara for.

To Sharrie and her family, Evelyn became a beam of hope. Her beauty was never simply the makeup she wore, the mascara on her lashes, or the elegance with which she presented herself to the world.

Her real beauty was in what those beautifully made-up eyes chose to see.

Where others saw trouble, Evelyn looked for hope.

Where others saw darkness, she went looking for “Pennies from Heaven.”

And when the rain came, Evelyn Boucher Williams already knew what to do.

“Darling, let a smile be your umbrella.”

Perhaps that was Miss Maybelline’s greatest beauty of all:

a beautiful heart, seen through beautiful eyes.

This version makes her feel more present on the page rather than simply remembered—especially through the recurring “Darling,” her insistence on being properly ready, and her almost defiant belief in smiling and singing through trouble.

More than a century later, the Maybelline name endures

 This story stands as one of the last living legacies handed down from the original family behind an American beauty dynasty. Maybelline began as Tom Lyle Williams’ vi

sion and grew into a name recognized around the world. Although the company was acquired by L’Oréal in 1996 and became Maybelline New York, its origins belong to the Williams family. More than a century later, the Maybelline name endures—and so does the extraordinary family story behind it.

“TL, the Moon! We’re taking Maybelline to the Moon!”

Tom Lyle Williams knew he possessed an extraordinary instinct for #advertising. He also knew that Emery and Arnold brought exceptional #talents to the company. But Rags was different. Rags had the rare ability to turn Tom Lyle’s #vision into #momentum—and keep that momentum going year after year.

As the #cosmetics industry exploded and competitors fought for their share of the #market, Rags helped keep Maybelline one step ahead. He understood #sales, #merchandising, #promotion, and, perhaps most importantly, how to recognize an opportunity before everyone else did.

Tom Lyle never forgot the Depression years, when he considered selling the company and Rags refused to let him surrender. On their way to meet prospective buyers in New York, Rags turned to him and declared, “TL, the Moon! We’re taking Maybelline to the Moon!”

They never went into the meeting. They got back in the car and drove home to Chicago.

That moment captured the spirit of their partnership. Tom Lyle may have dreamed the dream, but Rags helped convince him to keep dreaming bigger. And Tom Lyle knew that without Rags, Maybelline might never have remained at the top of the fiercely competitive cosmetics industry for so many remarkable years.

THE MAYBELLINE STORY: Miss Maybelline, the Pied Piper & Hobby the Clown

Behind the glamour of the Maybelline dynasty lies a mystery that has haunted my family for decades.

My grandmother, Evelyn Williams—“Miss Maybelline”—died when her home went up in flames.

But the fire was only the beginning.

Three million dollars in bonds were missing.

Then came the questions.

Who was really there?

Who was telling the truth?

And what did the Pied Piper and Hobby the Clown have to do with the strange events surrounding Miss Maybelline’s final days?

Now The Coroner’s Report takes you inside the mystery in six gripping episodes, about 40 minutes each.

A glamorous cosmetics dynasty.

A suspicious fire.

Missing millions.

Family secrets.

And a death that still raises questions nearly half a century later.

Was it an accident—or was Miss Maybelline murdered?

Listen to all six episodes and decide for yourself.

Tighten your safety belt, darling. It’s going to be a very bumpy ride.

Mabel met Chet Hewes, and everything changed.

One Sunday at church, #Mabel met Chet Hewes, and everything changed. On her 34th #birthday, she and Chet were married.

Sweet Mabel knew she had found her one true love. Before long, they welcomed three beautiful children and built a happy, peaceful life together—a marriage that would endure for nearly fifty wonderful years.

Through it all, Mabel remained deeply devoted to her brothers and sisters, and later to their children and grandchildren. She was the loving heart of the Williams family—the one everyone could turn to for kindness, comfort, and unconditional love.

Throughout her long life, she was affectionately known simply as “Auntie Mabel,” a name spoken with #love by generations of #family who adored her.

For the young woman whose homemade #beauty remedy had unknowingly #inspired her brother Tom Lyle to create #Maybelline, perhaps Mabel’s greatest #

legacy was not the famous company that carried her name, but the family she loved so faithfully throughout her life.

Tom Lyle Williams’ innovations transformed Maybelline from a kitchen-based startup into a cosmetics giant.

By developing safe, easy-to-use eye #makeup, harnessing the #glamour of #Hollywood #endorsements, and expanding from mail order into mass retail distribution, he helped revolutionize the #beauty #industry. His ability to adapt during the Great Depression and World War II kept the company thriving, while later innovations—such as Ultra Lash mascara and its modern applicator—ensured Maybelline remained relevant to a new generation. Tom Lyle’s vision of #affordable glamour, combined with his remarkable cultural instincts and #advertising #genius, made Maybelline an enduring American #icon whose #legacy continues today under L’Oréal.

Personal Vision and Legacy: Empowering Women

 

As Sharrie Williams has noted, Tom Lyle’s #vision was to help #women feel #beautiful , #confident, and #empowered through affordable #cosmetics. His focus on eye #makeup—the eyes being considered the “windows to the #soul”—reflected a powerful cultural shift toward greater #freedom and self-expression, particularly after #American women gained the right to vote in 1920. By making beauty accessible to women from every walk of life, Tom Lyle helped transform cosmetics into more than a symbol of glamour; they became a means of personal confidence, independence, and identity.

TOM LYLE WILLIAMS: SELLING HOLLYWOOD TO AMERICA

Hollywood was creating stars.

Tom Lyle Williams was creating the women who wanted to look like them.

By the 1920s and 1930s, motion pictures were transforming American culture. Women sat inside darkened theaters and watched impossibly glamorous faces appear twenty feet high on the silver screen—perfectly arched brows, darkened lashes, expressive eyes.

Tom Lyle understood the power of those images.

He realized that women didn't simply admire Hollywood stars.

They wanted a little of their magic.

And Maybelline could give it to them.

What had begun as a simple eye-beauty product inspired by his sister Mabel was becoming something much larger. Tom Lyle expanded Maybelline's offerings, helping turn the company into a destination for women who wanted to define their lashes, shape their brows, and create the dramatic eyes they saw in magazines and motion pictures.

But selling eye makeup required more than creating a good product.

Tom Lyle had to change attitudes.

Only a generation earlier, obvious makeup could still be associated with actresses, performers, and women considered too daring for respectable society. Yet America was changing. Women had won the right to vote. Hemlines were rising. Hair was being bobbed. Young women were challenging Victorian expectations about how they should dress, behave—and present themselves to the world.

Tom Lyle saw where society was heading.

And he put Maybelline directly in its path.

He advertised in popular movie magazines such as Photoplay, surrounding the Maybelline name with the faces and mystique of Hollywood. Actresses including Phyllis Haver and Viola Dana appeared in the glamorous world Maybelline sought to capture, followed in later years by some of Hollywood's most recognizable beauties.

There was also a personal bridge between the Williams family and the motion-picture industry. Andrew “Mac” MacDonald worked at MGM, placing the family close to the extraordinary studio machinery that created stars under Louis B. Mayer.

Hollywood manufactured dreams.

Tom Lyle learned how to package one of those dreams and place it in a woman's handbag.

The strategy was brilliant.

Instead of asking women simply to buy mascara, Maybelline invited them to imagine themselves differently.

The movie star's eyes were no longer unattainable.

With the right technique—and the right Maybelline products—a secretary in Chicago, a shopgirl in Cleveland, or a housewife in Kansas City could stand before her mirror and create her own version of Hollywood glamour.

Beauty features and demonstrations helped teach women how to achieve those looks themselves. The mystery of movie-star makeup was gradually brought out of the studio dressing room and into the American home.

And Tom Lyle didn't stop with magazines.

When radio emerged as one of the great new mass-media forces of the 1930s, he understood its potential as well. Maybelline could now enter millions of homes, reaching women far beyond the readers of fashion and movie magazines.

Even during the darkest years of the Great Depression, glamour still had value.

Perhaps it had even more.

A woman might not be able to afford a new wardrobe, diamonds, or a trip to Hollywood. But an inexpensive beauty product could offer something powerful for only a few cents:

transformation.

That was Tom Lyle Williams's genius.

He understood that Maybelline wasn't really competing only in the cosmetics business.

It was competing in the business of aspiration.

Hollywood supplied the fantasy.

Maybelline supplied the means to recreate it.

And together, they helped change the face of the American woman.

What are your memories of visiting your great-uncle Lyle as a young teenager? I suppose there was lots of free makeup on the go!

Sharrie and her sister, Donna Williams

SW: Oh, absolutely! One of my favorite memories was when I was 17 and drove all my best girlfriends up to my great-uncle Tom Lyle Williams’ estate in Bel Air, California, in my blue-and-white 1957 Chevy.

Our high school club was holding a raffle, and we were hoping Uncle Tom might donate a few Maybelline samples for us to use as prizes. Well, Uncle Lyle never did anything halfway. Not only did he give us plenty of products for the raffle, he surprised us with a giant box filled with Maybelline cosmetics for all of us to divide among ourselves.

You can imagine the excitement! To a carload of 17-year-old high school girls, it was like striking gold—a year’s supply of our favorite makeup, absolutely free!

We drove away from that beautiful Bel Air estate with my Chevy loaded with Maybelline and a group of very happy teenage girls. At that age, I don’t think anything could have been more glamorous or exciting. And to me, Uncle Lyle wasn’t simply the man behind this famous cosmetics company. He was my great-uncle, and moments like that made growing up in the Maybelline family feel truly magical.

LIVING THE DREAM IN THE 1950s — WHEN MAYBELLINE CAME TO TELEVISION

As children, my sisters and I lived a pretty ordinary middle-class life. We went to school, played in the backyard with our cousins, and waited excitedly for the Easter Bunny to arrive with baskets overflowing with chocolate eggs—and, if we were lucky, maybe even a live bunny or baby chick.

Yet just beyond our little world, something extraordinary was happening.

Our great-uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, founder of the Maybelline Company, was taking his beauty empire into the exciting new age of television.

1956 was a banner year for Maybelline. Tom Lyle understood the enormous power of this new medium and put Maybelline before millions of television viewers. That year, Maybelline sponsored CBS-TV's coverage of the magnificent wedding celebrations of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco—one of the most glamorous events of the decade. Contemporary television-industry records confirm Maybelline's sponsorship of the April 21, 1956 CBS broadcast.

Maybelline was also associated with some of television's biggest attractions, including The Miss America Contest, The Perry Como Show, and The Loretta Young Show.

Imagine the contrast.

While Uncle Lyle was steering Maybelline toward the moon and back, bringing glamorous Maybelline eyes into living rooms across America, his great-nieces were sitting in the grass hunting Easter eggs, completely unaware that we were growing up inside an American success story.

To us, he was simply Uncle Lyle.

Only years later did I understand what I had witnessed: a brilliant businessman recognizing that television was about to change advertising forever—and making sure Maybelline was right there when it happened.

Read more about the fabulous 1950s and how Tom Lyle Williams took Maybelline from the pages of magazines into the television age at .

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It

My grandmother, Miss Maybelline, began telling me the Maybelline story when I was a young girl

From

Sharrie Williams, Bill Williams, Tom Lyle Williams, Billed Williams, Pauline Williams, Donna Williams, Evelyn Williams/Miss Maybelline

those early conversations, a seed was planted. She brought the people, personalities, triumphs, and heartbreaks of our family history to life for me. After her untimely death, I became determined to finish the story she had begun.

I knew that if I didn’t preserve it, much of that history could eventually be lost—and that would be a tragedy. The Maybelline story is more than the history of a cosmetics company. It is a thread woven into the fabric of the American Dream and an important chapter in the golden age of Hollywood glamour.

Most of all, I wanted my great-uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, founder of the Maybelline Company, to be remembered. His vision, determination, and extraordinary understanding of women helped transform the cosmetics industry and the way beauty was marketed to generations of American women. I wanted people to know the man behind the Maybelline name—and to understand the remarkable legacy he left behind.

My father, Bill Williams, was Tom Lyle Williams’ nephew and godson.

 He grew up at Villa Valentino in Hollywood, close to his uncle and surrounded by the world Tom Lyle had created. From him, my father learned many of the secrets behind Maybelline’s extraordinary success—not simply how to build something, but how to believe in yourself strongly enough to keep going when the odds are against you.

My father carried that philosophy into his own life. He became an extraordinarily talented interior designer and builder, a man who seemed to believe there was always a solution to every problem. His philosophy was simple: “Yes, I can!”

I learned the true meaning of those words in 1993, when the Laguna Beach Firestorm destroyed my home. I wasn’t there when it happened, and I lost everything. I was devastated. For a time, I wanted to give up completely.

But my father wouldn’t let me.

He held me together when I couldn’t hold myself together. When I doubted whether I could ever rebuild my life, he believed for both of us. He designed and helped me rebuild my home, but in many ways, he was rebuilding me at the same time. His determination taught me that losing everything does not mean your story is over. Sometimes it means you have to find the courage to begin again.

Years later, he stood beside me once more, helping me research and write my book and sharing the family history he had absorbed growing up so close to Tom Lyle.

My father gave me something far more valuable than an inheritance. He gave me resilience, determination, and the belief that I could overcome what seemed impossible.

Today, I carry his voice with me: “Yes, I can!”

And perhaps the greatest way I can honor him is to pass that spirit on to the next generation—to teach them that success isn't simply what you inherit. It’s what you find within yourself when life knocks you down and you choose to get back up.

The greatest benefit of being an heir to the Maybelline dynasty was never the money. It was the extraordinary life I was fortunate enough to experience.

I grew up with a great-uncle who made my childhood feel magical. I was surrounded by cousins I adored, and together we shared the excitement of watching Maybelline grow from our family business into a global beauty giant. We weren't thinking about fortunes or inheritances then—we were simply a family caught up in an incredible adventure.

In fact, the money eventually complicated everything. It created divisions, changed relationships, and, in many ways, helped destroy the closeness we once had. That became one of the hardest lessons of the Maybelline legacy: wealth can give you extraordinary opportunities, but it cannot guarantee happiness, loyalty, or love.

Now, as an older woman looking back on that remarkable roller-coaster ride, I realize the real inheritance wasn't financial. It was the wisdom, resilience, strength, and perspective I gained from living through the triumphs as well as the heartbreak.

If there is one benefit I treasure most today, it is having the opportunity to pass those lessons on—to take everything Maybelline gave me, and everything it took from us, and turn that experience into something meaningful for the generations who come after me.

Cultural Timing

: Silent films peaked in the 1920s, and Tom Lyle rode the wave. His ads didn’t just sell mascara—they sold a lifestyle, making Maybelline synonymous with modern femininity.

This strategy elevated Maybelline from a utility product to a glamour essential.

When Sharrie married Gene Dorney in 1973, the handsome young attorney had the approval of the three people whose opinions mattered most:

 Evelyn, Bill, and Tom Lyle. On paper, Gene seemed the perfect choice—a promising lawyer with a bright future—and everyone expected the young couple to step effortlessly into a charmed and prosperous life.

Sharrie certainly believed they would.

She imagined a future of perpetual entertaining in an impeccably decorated home, elegant dinner parties, and a closet filled with designer clothes purchased from her father’s fashionable dress store at Newport Beach’s glamorous Fashion Island. After growing up in the extraordinary world surrounding Maybelline, this seemed like the natural next chapter.

She would be the beautiful young wife of a successful attorney, presiding over her home with style and confidence while gradually assuming the role she had been raised almost to expect—that of the young “Maybelline Queen” in waiting.

In 1973, it looked as though every piece of the picture had fallen perfectly into place.

But perfect pictures have a way of hiding what is happening just outside the frame.

Tom Lyle Williams—often described as the “King of #Advertising”

—and his longtime partner, Emery Shaver, formed the extraordinary #partnership behind the brand’s rise and market dominance. Tom Lyle supplied the original vision, #entrepreneurial instinct, and remarkable understanding of what women wanted, while Emery brought #creative #brilliance, advertising talent, and a relentless work ethic to the growing company.

Together, they helped transform a small mail-order eye-beauty business into one of America’s most recognizable cosmetics brands. Their advertising sold more than mascara—it sold glamour, romance, confidence, and the promise of transformation. Long before Maybelline became part of L’Oréal in 1996, the name had already become woven into American popular culture.

Although Emery’s role has sometimes been overshadowed by the larger Williams family story, his contribution was indispensable. Tom Lyle may have ignited the spark, but Emery helped keep the flame burning for decades. Behind Maybelline’s extraordinary success stood not simply one marketing genius, but two men whose personal and professional partnership helped build an American beauty empire.

The Williams family was more than the family behind Maybelline—they were woven into the very fabric of the company.

Tom Lyle Williams may have been the visionary who transformed a simple idea into an international beauty empire, but he surrounded himself with family members he trusted to help keep that empire running. His sister Mabel Williams, whose own beauty experiment inspired the Maybelline name, married Chet Hewes, who became an important part of the company’s manufacturing operations. Over the years, Mabel grew into the beloved matriarch of the family, affectionately known to younger generations as “Auntie Mabel.”

Tom Lyle’s sister Eva Williams married Ches Haines, who took responsibility for transportation and helped keep Maybelline’s expanding operation moving. Behind the glamorous advertisements, beautiful models, and famous Maybelline eyes was a remarkably close family network—each member contributing in a different way to the company Tom Lyle was building.

But the Maybelline story was never simply a business story.

It was a family saga filled with ambition, loyalty, love, jealousy, betrayal, sacrifice, and an almost relentless pursuit of beauty and perfection. As Maybelline grew from its modest beginnings into one of America’s most recognizable cosmetic names, the Williams family traveled an equally extraordinary road—from their Kentucky roots to Chicago and eventually to the glittering world of Hollywood.

In The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It, Tom Lyle Williams’s great-niece Sharrie Williams opens the doors to that private world, revealing the personalities and relationships behind the famous name. It is the story of how one family helped create a beauty empire—and how the pursuit of the American Dream transformed the family itself.

Evelyn Williams occupies a central and unforgettable place in the Maybelline family story.

 As the grandmother of author Sharrie Williams, Evelyn’s extraordinary life—and her mysterious death—has been preserved through Sharrie’s writing, interviews, blog, and podcast appearances.

Her connection to Maybelline went far beyond being related to founder Tom Lyle Williams. Evelyn lived inside the family dynasty as it grew from a modest beauty business into one of America’s most recognizable cosmetics empires. Glamorous, ambitious, outspoken, and larger than life, she witnessed firsthand the wealth, personalities, rivalries, and sacrifices that accompanied the family’s success.

But Evelyn’s story also gives the Maybelline legacy one of its darkest and most compelling chapters. Her dramatic later years and death in a 1978 house fire transformed a glamorous family history into an enduring mystery. Through Sharrie Williams’s efforts to document her grandmother’s life, Evelyn has emerged not merely as a footnote to the Maybelline story, but as one of its most fascinating characters—a woman whose life embodied both the glamour of the Maybelline dynasty and the price that sometimes came with it.

THE WOMAN BEHIND THE STORYSharrie Williams was born into the Maybelline legacy.

As the great-niece of founder Tom Lyle Williams and the granddaughter of Evelyn Williams—the glamorous woman who became one of the most fascinating figures in the family saga—Sharrie grew up hearing the intimate stories behind the famous Maybelline name.

She witnessed firsthand how beauty, ambition, family loyalty, triumph, and tragedy shaped generations of the Williams family.

Years later, Sharrie set out to preserve that remarkable history.

The result is The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It—a deeply personal account of the extraordinary people behind one of America’s most iconic and enduring beauty brands.

#Maybelline #TheMaybellineStory #SharrieWilliams #BeautyHistory #FamilyLegacy #AmericanDynasty #TomLyleWilliams #MissMaybelline

Who really was Miss Maybelline

Though Evelyn Williams was not an heiress in the traditional sense—she did not directly inherit the Maybelline Company—she became an essential figure in the family dynasty behind the iconic brand. Born at the dawn of the twentieth century, Evelyn married William Preston Williams, the younger brother of Maybelline founder Tom Lyle Williams. Through her marriage, influence, and larger-than-life personality, she became deeply entwined with the company’s history, playing a pivotal role both within the family and as a glamorous symbol of the Maybelline legacy.

How a 19-Year-Old Invented Mascara in 1915 It started with a singed eyebrow in a Chicago kitchen in 1915.

Mabel Williams in the center of her High School picture. Morganfield Kentucky 

Tom Lyle Williams was 19, living with his older sister Mabel. According to the family history told by his grandniece Sharrie Williams in The Maybelline Story, Mabel had singed off her lashes and brows in a kitchen stove flare-up. To cover it, she used a trick she called a "secret of the harem" that she'd read about in Photoplay magazine — she burned a cork for ash, mixed the ash with coal dust and Vaseline, and applied it to her brows and lashes to make them look darker and fuller.

Tom Lyle was fascinated. He wasn't a chemist — he was a young entrepreneur with a good eye for what women wanted from the movies. He took Mabel's messy kitchen mix, worked on a more stable, cleaner version in his drugstore contacts, and first sold it as Lash-Brow-Ine. Then he renamed it.

Maybelline = Mabel + Vaseline. He named the company after his sister.

That naming instinct was the first of several founder-level marketing moves that turned a dime-store pot into a billion-dollar brand:

Mail order before department stores. In 1917 he ran tiny 10-cent classifieds in movie magazines like Photoplay. "Beautiful eyes may be had with Lash-Brow-Ine." Women mailed a dime and he mailed back the product. No middleman, no retail buyer needed.

The before-and-after. He is credited as the first beauty advertiser to use before-and-after imagery in print. One eye bare, one eye with Maybelline. It was shocking, clear, and it sold instantly in the comics section and women's pages of newspapers through the 1920s and 30s.

Radio when cosmetics weren't on radio. In the early 1930s beauty brands thought radio was too risqué. Tom Lyle went the other way. He sponsored national shows like The Chase and Sanborn Hour and created his own — Penthouse Serenade from about 1935 to 1937, a late-night romantic music show. He wove in jingles like "Eyes that charm, with Maybelline!" It made Maybelline a household sound, not just a look, and put it years ahead of rivals.

Television in 1946. When there were only about 4,000 TV sets in the New York area, most advertisers were waiting. Maybelline wasn't. In 1946 it became one of the very first cosmetics to advertise on television, adapting its radio jingles and before-and-after demonstrations to the new visual medium. That move — from print to radio to TV in one founder's lifetime — is why Maybelline survived the Depression, World War II rationing, and the post-war boom when hundreds of other mail-order beauties disappeared.

He ran the company from Chicago until 1967, when he sold it to Plough Inc. in Memphis for $135,000,000 in his early deal — a fortune then, and the seed for what is now Maybelline New York under L'Oreal.

The whole arc is still that original kitchen observation: a sister fixing a kitchen accident with coal dust and Vaseline, and a 19-year-old brother who understood that every woman watching a silent film wanted that same transformation, and knew exactly which new medium to tell her about it on next.

Public response to the theories around Evelyn Williams (Miss Maybelline) is a mix of fascination, skepticism, and frustration, with no clear consensus on what really happened to her.

Ongoing interest and fascination

True‑crime audiences and people interested in the Maybelline family story remain strongly engaged with the case, especially through Sharrie Williams’s blog and book and the “Coroner’s Report” podcast series.  These sources frame her death as a compelling mystery, which encourages readers and listeners to weigh the different theories themselves rather than accept a single explanation. 

Skepticism about official conclusions

The blog explicitly notes that Evelyn’s death has long been debated as either a tragic accident or a premeditated crime, and emphasizes that there is still no definitive conclusion.  This uncertainty fuels skepticism among the public, who often question whether the original investigation was thorough enough and whether key evidence (such as the missing bonds) points toward foul play. 

How media shapes reactions

Podcast episodes that walk through fire‑scene details, potential suspects, and missing money invite the audience to act almost like jurors, deciding if they believe the accident or murder theory. That interactive style tends to polarize responses: some people lean toward organized‑crime or insider involvement, while others think the case may be an unsolved but less conspiratorial tragedy. 

Frustration with the lack of closure

Because no one has been charged and the case is still officially unresolved, many followers of the story express frustration that there has never been justice or clarity.  The combination of family‑dynasty drama, a famous brand name, stolen bonds, and a suspicious fire keeps the story alive, but the same elements also make it feel to many like a mystery that may never be fully answered. 

Tom Lyle Williams’ innovations transformed Maybelline from a kitchen-based startup into a cosmetics giant.

Mabel Williams  1915 Chicago 

Tom Lyle Williams 1934 Hollywood Calif.

His creation of safe, user-friendly eye makeup products, strategic use of Hollywood endorsements, and shift to retail distribution revolutionized the industry. By adapting to economic challenges like the Great Depression and World War II, and later introducing modern applicators like Ultra Lash, he ensured Maybelline’s relevance. His vision of affordable beauty, paired with cultural savvy, made Maybelline a global icon, a legacy that endures under L’Oréal

Tom Lyle Williams’ innovations turned Maybelline from a small mail‑order operation into a mass‑market cosmetics powerhouse by inventing practical eye makeup, pioneering celebrity‑driven advertising, and relentlessly adapting products and distribution to changing times.

 From kitchen experiment to first mass mascara

Williams founded Maybelline in 1915 after watching his sister Mabel darken her lashes with a homemade mix of petroleum jelly and soot, which inspired him to create a commercial eye product. He first launched Lash-Brow, then a cake mascara/eyebrow beautifier sold by mail order, one of the earliest everyday eye cosmetics available to American women. By centering the brand on a single, easy-to-use eye product that solved a real beauty problem, he established Maybelline’s identity around accessible, practical glamour.

 Hollywood endorsements and beauty culture

In the late 1920s and 1930s, Maybelline ads prominently featured Hollywood stars, helping link eye makeup with modern screen glamour at a time when cosmetics were still gaining mainstream acceptance. These endorsements normalized eye makeup for ordinary consumers and positioned Maybelline as a way to emulate film actresses while staying within reach of everyday budgets. That mix of celebrity allure and affordability became a core part of the brand’s marketing DNA and helped drive rapid growth.

 Adapting through economic crises and new formats

During the Great Depression and World War II, Williams kept Maybelline viable by adjusting packaging, rationing materials, and emphasizing value, ensuring the products remained affordable despite economic strain.  He continued expanding the line with items like eyeshadows and eyebrow pencils in 1929, then more shades and targeted offerings—such as products marketed to African American customers in the 1950s—so the brand kept pace with changing fashion and demographics.[4][7] Later innovations such as Ultra Lash, one of the first internationally mass‑produced modern mascara applicator systems, made eye makeup faster and more convenient for everyday users.

 Shift to retail and global scale

Maybelline evolved from a mail‑order business into a brand strongly tied to drugstore and mass retail shelves, making eye makeup visible and impulse‑buyable for millions of consumers.[5][9] Heavy magazine and then television advertising in the 1950s and beyond reinforced that presence, with sponsored shows and commercials that brought the brand into living rooms across the country.[7] This combination of wide distribution and constant media exposure laid the groundwork for Maybelline’s later positioning as a global mass‑market leader under corporate owners.

 Legacy under L’Oréal

Williams eventually sold Maybelline; by 1996 the company became part of L’Oréal, which scaled it into a worldwide brand now known as Maybelline New York.[9] Even under new ownership, the core ideas he established—affordable eye‑focused products, celebrity‑driven marketing, and quick, user‑friendly application tools—still shape the brand’s identity and global campaigns.[5][9] His vision that “every woman should have access to beauty,” realized through low prices and broad distribution, is a major reason Maybelline remains a recognizable cosmetics icon today.[5][9]

The King of Advertising Tom Lyle Williams founder of Maybelline

Tom Lyle Williams’ innovations transformed Maybelline from a kitchen-based startup into a cosmetics giant. His creation of safe, user-friendly eye makeup products, strategic use of Hollywood endorsements, and shift to retail distribution revolutionized the industry. By adapting to economic challenges like the Great Depression and World War II, and later introducing modern applicators like Ultra Lash, he ensured Maybelline’s relevance. His vision of affordable beauty, paired with cultural savvy, made Maybelline a global icon, a legacy that endures under L’Oréal

Tom Lyle Williams: The Father of Beauty Influencer Marketing

When my great-uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, founded the Maybelline Company in 1915, he understood a simple but powerful truth: people trust the opinions of those they admire. Long before the internet, social media, or influencers existed, he built his company on that very principle.

His first advertisements were modest 1½-inch classified ads placed in popular publications such as Photoplay and the Police Gazette. Those tiny ads generated enough interest to launch what would become one of the world's most recognizable beauty brands. As sales grew, so did his marketing ambitions. He sponsored the nationally broadcast Maybelline Hour radio program, featuring live entertainment and, on occasion, members of the Maybelline family. He later expanded into glamorous full-page magazine advertisements and became one of the earliest cosmetic executives to embrace television advertising, recognizing that visual storytelling sold beauty better than words alone.

But Tom Lyle Williams' greatest innovation was not the advertising medium—it was the messenger.

From the 1920s through the 1960s, he signed many of Hollywood's biggest stars to represent Maybelline. At a time when many cosmetics founders promoted themselves as the face of their companies, Tom deliberately stayed out of the spotlight. The focus was always on the beauty, elegance, and glamour of the women who represented the brand—not on its founder.

There was another reason for his anonymity. Tom lived during a period when homosexuality was widely condemned, and for more than fifty years he shared his life with his devoted partner, Emery Shaver. Public exposure could have jeopardized not only his personal life but also the reputation of the Maybelline name and the family behind it. Rather than seek personal recognition, he let the brand become the celebrity.

His instincts proved brilliant.

Consumers didn't simply buy mascara—they bought the promise of Hollywood glamour. Every advertisement encouraged women to imagine themselves looking like the movie stars they admired. Those striking images sparked conversations among friends, neighbors, mothers, and daughters, creating powerful word-of-mouth advertising long before anyone coined the term.

Today, Maybelline New York uses tools Tom could never have imagined. Television has been joined by websites, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and countless other digital platforms. Celebrity ambassadors continue to play a central role, with partnerships such as supermodel Gigi Hadid's generating worldwide attention through advertising campaigns, collaborative product collections, and millions of social media followers.

The company has expanded Tom's original philosophy even further by embracing influencer marketing. Professional creators, beauty experts, and everyday consumers receive products to review and share with their online communities. Their recommendations reach audiences of every size, from millions of followers to close-knit circles of family and friends.

The technology has changed, but the strategy has not.

Tom Lyle Williams believed beautiful images would inspire conversation. He believed trusted voices would influence buying decisions. He believed people would share exciting discoveries with those they knew.

More than a century later, that same philosophy remains at the heart of Maybelline's marketing. The classified ads have become digital campaigns, the Hollywood stars now share the stage with influencers, and conversations that once took place across kitchen tables now happen across social media. Yet the goal remains exactly as Tom envisioned in 1915—to create excitement, inspire confidence, and encourage people to tell someone else about Maybelline.