Have you heard the terrible news regarding Tupperware? After all these years of being a household staple, it looks like they may be closing their snap-top lids forever. The company has been losing sales, especially to the younger crowd, and stock prices are significantly down. A world without those containers will be a drab place indeed.
Tupper, a chemist, developed the plastic originally for use in radar, and later came up with a much broader use, selling his lightweight, non-breakable bowls in 1946. Sales were reasonable but not fantastic as many prospective buyers did not understand the full potential of bowls that needed to be burped. The product was good but needed some interpretation.
Along comes Brownie Wise, who was a 1950s marketing genius. Keep in mind that the norm was that a woman's first priority was to cook, clean, and take care of the children and husband. Brownie created the home party method of sales, and Tupperware became a household name. Women were given the opportunity to make their own money selling these useful products through networking family and friends. They learned sales techniques and party games and knew that if they needed help, the Tupperware sales community had their backs. Those invited to these parties had fun, refreshments, and the occasion to earn prizes for themselves and the hostess. The ladies demonstrating the products received good money and incentives to attain goals for additional rewards.
Did I personally attend any of these parties? Yes, I was dragged to a few of them and have to admit they were fun. 1968 was my year of Tupperware overload. Jerry and I were getting married and my mother attended a party along with one of my aunts, intent on supplying us with items necessary for a happy life together. I was gifted with a plethora of products, some of which I still use like my canister set and juice pitchers; I think I still have a Jell-O mold as well. Oh yeah, some large cupcake holders are in the basement along with a cereal keeper that’s missing the top. I do miss the plastic stick that I won as a prize that was used to clean the grooves in the Wonder Bowl covers.
I do hope something can happen to keep Tupperware going. We’ve lost so many things that were important to us when we were young. Mini skirts. The Beatles. Movie theaters that charged less than a dollar admission. Jell-O. I say that only because it was a safe place to put pineapple and cottage cheese and it was fun to watch it wiggle.
Perhaps a number of us have lost faith in the future. We look ahead and only see an unstable economy, the beginnings of a new Cold War, and increasing violence on the streets and in schools; sometimes it’s hard to find the bright side of life. Life in the heyday of Tupperware wasn’t perfect; no time in history was. But, so many families all across the world knew that if you put your leftovers in a Tupperware container and pushed down on the lid, the burp you heard gave you confidence that the food would be safe in the fridge for another meal, another day. Maybe there’s still hope for the future if we just hang on.
BTW Brownie Wise would be fired from the company in 1958. Mr. Tupper was selling the company to Rexall and was afraid her agressive sales techniques might disrupt the sale.
Sharon