Hollywood – Where dreams really did come ture.

Tom Lyle and Emery at the entrance to the Villa Valentino, with TL’s niece’s,  Salle Allen and (Noel’s daughter,) Annette Williams, 1946.

Together for over 25 years by 1946, Tom Lyle and Emery continued to be the driving force behind Maybelline’s spectacular advertisements. While TL’s brother Noel, handled the day to day, running of the Maybelline Company, and Rag’s Ragland steered the Marketing division in Chicago, TL and Emery contracted Hollywood stars to appear in full color, glossy ads, in Hollywood. 


Though Tom Lyle was never enamored by stardom, Emery loved every inch of it. My father once told me a funny story about Emery and his fascination with Hollywood celebrities.


TL, Emery and 13 year old Bill pulled up in front of the famous Brown Derby, got out of the Packard, and headed into the restaurant. Just then, Mae West and W.C. Fields pulled up behind them in a Rolls Royce, dressed in full regalia for publicity shots. TL and Bill turned around to see what all the excitement was about, just in time to see starstruck Emery, head straight into a poll, bump his head and fall right on his butt. A true W.C. Fields pratfall, and one they never let Emery forget.

Mae West and W. C. Fields.

Read more about Tom Lyle and Emery, during Hollywood’s heyday, in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.


Be sure to order signed copies for the Holiday’s at http://www.maybellinebook.com/.