I heard an NPR Marketplace report recently that Tupperware’s stock is taking a tumble. The lid is off…Tupperware may not survive, and to me this highlights just how much has changed for us middle-lifers.
Back in the day there was no world-wide-interwebs. And direct marketing was an effective way to sell. I am quite sure my Gen X and Gen Z children haven’t even heard of the companies Avon or Tupperware.
In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first bell-shaped container; the brand products were introduced to the public in 1946. The invention of Tupperware was more than just a new storage container. We look at how it liberated American housewives in the 50s and beyond.
The iconic Tupperware style…arguably the kitchen necessity that brought the 1950’s suburban woman into her own: the brightly-colored plastic parcels of post-war America became both the preserve of food and female independence.
American women discovered they could earn thousands — even millions — of dollars from bowls that burped. “Tupperware ladies” fanned out across the nation’s living rooms, selling efficiency and convenience to their friends and neighbors through home parties. Bowl by bowl, they built an empire that now spans the globe.
Women of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds discovered they could move up in the world without leaving the house. And this small plastics company unpredictably became a cultural phenomenon. If Tupperware folds, it is most definitely the end of an era.
Inspired to get some Tupperware before it’s gone? Check out this vintage Tupperware set!