"We hardly need to say that one of the paramount considerations that caused us to select Plough, Inc., instead of other concerns, was their agreement to continue to operate our business in the Chicago area and thus assure your ability to continue with the Company if you with."
After the merger was a done deal, Abe Plough, reniged on his promise to Tom Lyle Williams and moved Maybelline to Memphis. This caused most of the original Maybelline employees, including Harris A. Neil Jr., to resign and find new employment. The loss of the tight knit group of employees that ran Maybelline so well, caused "Plough's, Maybelline Company," to tail spin, as far as production and distribution were concerned.
Tom Lyle Williams felt a personal obligation to help his devoted employees, (who had been promised their job's would continue after the merger,) to have a fair severance pay and help them until they relocated.
The letter outlined an employee gift that T. L. had put together, whereby each employee would receive a gift of $1000 tax free for each year of employment, from date of hire to December 31, 1967.
The letter from Rags Ragland gives some insight into the problems Plough faced after the the original Maybelline executives were no longer involved.
Stay tuned tomorrow as Harris A. Neil Jr.'s Chicago's Maybelline continues...
