Thomas Lyle Williams Sr (January 19, 1896 – September 26, 1976) was an American cosmetician and business executive. He was the founder of cosmetic firm The Maybelline Company.

Early life and family

Thomas Lyle Williams Sr. was born in

Morganfield, Kentucky Morganfield is a home rule-class city in Union County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 3,285 as of the year 2010 U.S. census. Name The city was named for Revolutionary War General Daniel Mor ...

, in 1896 to Thomas "TJ" Jefferson and Susan Williams. In 1912, he married Bennie Gibbs, with whom he had one son, Thomas Lyle Williams Jr (1912–1978), who was to become the General Partner at Williams Investments and President at Maybelline Co, Chicago. The marriage did not last long, however, and after it was annulled, Williams moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and there met Emery Shaver (September 15, 1903 – October 22, 1964), who was working part-time in advertising while studying literature at

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Career

In Chicago, Williams first went to work for

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

, a firm printing a mail-order catalog founded in 1872. After Montgomery Ward, he opened his own mail-order business. In 1915, Williams, then 19 years old, seeing his sister Mabel using a homemade mixture of

petroleum jelly Petroleum jelly, petrolatum (), white petrolatum, soft paraffin, or multi-hydrocarbon, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons (with carbon numbers mainly higher than 25), originally promoted as a topical ointment for i ...

, coal dust and burnt cork to darken her eyelashes, had the idea to create a commercial product to enhance the eyes. His own attempt was not a success but then he commissioned a drug manufacturer, and the resulting product was something that he could sell: the Lash-Brow. In 1917 Williams started producing eyebrow beautifier and cake eyelash, calling the product Maybelline, inspired by his sister Mabel. Maybelline was the first

mascara Mascara (, ) is a Cosmetics, cosmetic commonly used to enhance the upper and lower eyelashes. It is used to darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, powder, or cream—the modern mascara p ...

produced in America. In 1929 Williams expanded the production to eye shadow and eyebrow pencils. After World War II Maybelline became an international venture. Williams moved to California with his life partner, Emery Shaver. They bought

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...

's house in the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...

. Shaver and Williams were in charge of advertising for the company, and in particular, Shaver contracted the movie stars of the time to promote Maybelline products. The headquarters of Maybelline remained in Chicago. When Shaver died in 1964, Williams was deeply affected by the loss. He sold the business in 1968. In 2001, Maybelline became "Maybelline New York".

Death

Williams died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California in 1976. He and Shaver are buried together in the Columbarium of Memories at Forest Lawn Memorial Park,

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Thomas Lyle 1896 births 1976 deaths LGBTQ people from Kentucky 20th-century American chemists American business executives People from Morganfield, Kentucky 20th-century American LGBTQ people