The Tumultuous History Of Tupperware

The official date of Tupperware's invention is generally cited as 1946, but Earl Tupper — the brand's namesake and inventor — started making prototypes in the 1930s.

Early plastic was brittle and smelly, but Tupper's version was odorless, durable, and non-porous. He used this new plastic and an innovative lid to make the famous containers.

In 1946, two Tupperware products arrived in stores: the Bell Tumbler and the Wonderlier Bowl. Consumers were thrown off by the concept, and they didn’t sell well.

To increase sales, Tupperware parties came about. At these events, a saleswoman would host a party at her home and demonstrate different Tupperware products.

Brownie Wise developed and used the sales technique in the late 1940s. It was so successful that the company began selling its products exclusively through Tupperware parties.

Earl Tupper and his board of directors had made Brownie Wise a vice president of the company, but by the time he sold the business in 1958, Tupper had fired Wise.

In the 1960s, Tupperware's new owner, Rexall Drugs Corporation, started to sell Tupperware overseas, often through in-person sales techniques like Tupperware parties.