Look for my column on page 64
While he didn't let on, Tom Lyle was having
problems of his own. Despite the crash of 1929, it took two years for
the Maybelline Company to feel its true effects. Although sales
slowed, and the family fortune dwindled, it wasn't until 1931 that
Tom Lyle received the worst possible news. The president of Chicago
Guaranty Trust called him personally and told him that his ship had
sunk. On paper at least, Tom Lyle was no better off than the guys
selling apples on the street corner. He was broke.
The prosperity and opulence of the roaring ’20s
were gone, as were the vamps who purchased Maybelline’s
seventy-five-cent mascara. Tom Lyle realized that to save his
company, he would have to rethink his marketing plan and come up with
an idea that would put his product in the public eye at a price women
could afford. The flashy, flapper look was being replaced with a more
demure look fit for the times. Movie stars and socialites alike
favored understated eye makeup. Only one out of five women now used
Maybelline mascara, while four out of five women continued to use
powders and skin creams.
Tom Lyle tried to market cheaper sizes of his
products, but fashion magazines began to characterize makeup products
“fit only for tarts from the wrong side of the tracks.” Major
film studios, such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and
Paramount, jettisoned mascara and eyeliner altogether. It didn't help that the reigning empress of MGM, Norma Shearer, called eye
makeup “the province of whores.” While Ponds Cold Cream and
Helena Rubenstein’s makeup appealed to the rich and the upper
middle class, Maybelline’s darkly colored lashes now only appealed
to “the lower class.” While Tom Lyle made a quality product
affordable and accessible to women, Emery created a logo to fit the
times. “Quality yet sensibly priced” was printed on every
advertisement page, and became the spirit of Maybelline’s campaign.
Tom Lyle saw his dream going up in smoke, and the
Maybelline Company nearly went bankrupt. It occurred to him that to
continue selling through mail-order was futile. He needed to put his
products where women could purchase them cheaply and on
demand—Maybelline was offered in dime stores, but at a very small
as needed supply, and Preston and his drinking problem, failing
health and poor relationship with Evelyn made him almost useless as a
sales representative. He had to do something fast or sell the company
before it failed all together.
Rather than focus on an upscale
market, he knew he’d still be able to sell his product to the
working classes by making his products available cheaply and at
retail. But to do that would take backing, and he was nearly broke.
He asked his friend Rory Kirkland for a loan. Kirkland lent him
enough money to keep Maybelline afloat until they could figure out
what to do next.
The family single-handedly held the company
together, and everyone took less pay and worked longer hours. Tom
Lyle concentrated on advertising, while Noel handled the
administration of the company and the employees. Mabel’s husband,
Chet, supervised the production of mascara, and Eva’s husband,
Ches, managed shipping and the Maybelline trucks that transported
products to dime stores and Preston tried to stay sober.
Also started a Blog on Word Press about my 1964 Diary. I will be posting each day of that year so check it out at http://saffronsrule.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/day-1-of-my-1964-diary/
