How many of you use Tupperware on a weekly or even daily basis? I certainly do. When I bake, I get flour and brown sugar from my see through canisters and I use my yellow measuring spoons and cups for measuring baking powder and almond extract. When I need to save leftovers, I pull out my Tupperware. If you are like me, you bought most of your Tupperware years ago at a friend’s or your own Tupperware party. These days I find shelves and shelves of Tupperware at flea markets and antique stores labeled “Vintage Tupperware.”
According to Wikipedia, “Tupperware was developed in 1946 by Earl Silas Tupper (a chemist) in Leominster, Massachusetts. He developed plastic containers used in households to contain food and keep them airtight, which featured a then-patented ‘burping seal.’ While Tupper invented the container’s seal, it was Brownie Wise who created the infamous Tupperware Party and the concept of home party businesses.”
In the late 1940s these parties began as social events where women were recruited to sell the plastic containers for Wise. A Smithsonian magazine special report says, “The sales strategy was rooted in the home selling model pioneered by companies like Stanley Home Products, which used home sellers to demonstrate novel products, but Wise put women front and center as sellers at parties, then known as ‘Poly-T parties.’” These parties were hosted by a woman who was “supported by a Tupperware dealer—who could demonstrate the products and sell. Hostesses received merchandise as a thank-you for providing their homes and social networks.”
“In 1951, Tupper hired Wise as his vice president of marketing, an unprecedented position for a woman” at the time. Sales hit $25 million in 1954 with 20,000 people in the network of dealers, distributors and managers. “Wise became the first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week.”
“As time went on, (Wise) and Tupper fought frequently over company strategy and management.” Wise was fired in 1958 and Tupper sold the company.
Wise’s “larger legacy is in creating the model for a whole field of home party businesses, from Mary Kay onwards.” Today, the products are “sold by more than 3.2 million people still using the ingenious marketing strategy.”
So next time you get your vintage Tupperware out of the cupboard, think of Earl Tupper and Brownie Wise. And don’t forget to “burp” the seal. Please share your Tupperware stories and photos.