How Tupperware took over our homes, with Decoder Ring

Summary

Planet Money: How Tupperware Took Over Our Homes with Decoder Ring
Release Date: March 14, 2025
Hosts: Jeff Guo and Willa Paskin

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of Planet Money, host Jeff Guo teams up with Decoder Ring’s Willa Paskin to unravel the fascinating story of Tupperware—a seemingly mundane household item that revolutionized not only food storage but also sales strategies, gender roles, and consumer culture in America. This detailed exploration delves into the innovative approaches that propelled Tupperware to iconic status and the eventual factors leading to its decline.

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Origins of Tupperware

The story begins with Earl Tupper, a “spartan New Englander” and relentless inventor, who sought to create useful and appealing plastic products. During the 1940s, amidst the aftermath of World War II, Tupper experimented with polyethylene—a byproduct material developed by DuPont—which he transformed into a more malleable and colorful form. This innovation led to the birth of Tupperware in 1946, featuring unbreakable containers with airtight, resealable lids designed to solve the chaotic food storage methods of the time.

“He named the resulting product Tupperware. And by 1946, he was ready to start placing his first products, including the pastel colored Wonderware, in department stores, where they promptly just sat on the shelf.”
— Bob Keeling [12:08]

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Brownie Wise's Role

Enter Brownie Wise, a dynamic and charismatic saleswoman whose journey with Tupperware would forever change the company's trajectory. Initially a secretary in Detroit, Brownie recognized the untapped potential of Tupperware when she saw a sales demonstration by Stanley Home Products. Her innate ability to connect with women and present products in an engaging, peer-to-peer manner set her apart.

“She seemed authentic. She was warm and fun. And unlike all those male traveling salesmen, she could recommend products to other women as a peer.”
— Willa Paskin [09:40]

Brownie's innovative approach went beyond traditional sales tactics. She introduced the concept of Tupperware parties—social gatherings where women could learn about and purchase Tupperware products in a relaxed, communal setting.

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The Tupperware Party Phenomenon

The Tupperware party became the cornerstone of the company's sales strategy, blending social interaction with effective product demonstrations. These gatherings allowed women to showcase the functionality of Tupperware while fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.

“Women would come over and have hors d'oeuvres and maybe cocktails and chat and... Watch her show the way to use Tupperware's patented seal.”
— Willa Paskin [16:09]

This method not only boosted sales but also empowered women, providing them with an opportunity to earn income and engage in business activities within a socially acceptable framework of the time. Tupperware parties became a cultural phenomenon, redefining direct sales and setting a precedent for future influencer-driven marketing strategies.

“Tupperware Parties sort of pioneered this concept of, like, women selling to women. It is a completely different selling experience.”
— Amanda Mull [16:37]

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Tupperware's Golden Age

Under Brownie Wise's leadership, Tupperware experienced unprecedented growth. By harnessing the power of direct sales and leveraging the influence of its vast network of women dealers, the company amassed $25 million in retail sales (equivalent to nearly $300 million today). Tupperware became synonymous with quality and innovation in household products, embedding itself deeply into American domestic life.

“Tupperware had the release model cachet of a streetwear brand and the trendiness of, yes, a Stanley cup, all while making wives and mothers feel good about how they were being wives and mothers.”
— Amanda Mull [19:19]

Brownie Wise emerged as the face of Tupperware, celebrated as a sales genius and a pioneer for women in business. Her public persona and memoirs further solidified her integral role in the company's success.

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Internal Conflicts and Decline

Despite Tupperware's booming success, underlying tensions between Earl Tupper and Brownie Wise began to surface. Earl grew increasingly frustrated with Brownie's dominance and popularity, especially as she amassed significant influence both within and outside the company. The turning point came during the 1957 Jubilee—a grand sales convention orchestrated by Brownie—which ended disastrously due to severe weather, resulting in injuries and lawsuits. This incident exacerbated the existing friction, leading Earl Tupper to view Brownie as a liability.

“Brownie left. She saved her own skin, let's say.”
— Willa Paskin [24:58]

In January 1958, Earl Tupper fired Brownie Wise, stripping her of any stake in the company and ending her remarkable run. Shortly thereafter, Earl sold Tupperware to Rexall Drug for $16 million, marking the end of an era. Despite this upheaval, Tupperware continued to thrive for decades, maintaining its cultural significance even without its original visionary leader.

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Legacy of Tupperware

Tupperware's influence extends far beyond its functional products. It pioneered direct sales techniques and empowered generations of women to engage in business. The brand's emphasis on quality, community, and innovative marketing left an indelible mark on consumer culture.

“We're still living in the world that Tupperware built, and we probably will be for quite some time.”
— Amanda Mull [08:20]

Even as Tupperware faces bankruptcy in September 2024, citing macroeconomic challenges, its legacy endures. The company's once-dominant sales model has given way to a competitive marketplace where its descendants continue to thrive, adapting to modern consumer behaviors while retaining the foundational principles established by Earl Tupper and Brownie Wise.

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Conclusion

The Tupperware saga is a testament to the power of innovation, strategic salesmanship, and the intricate dynamics of business leadership. From its inception as a practical solution for food storage to its rise as a cultural icon, Tupperware's story mirrors many contemporary economic and social trends. Brownie Wise's role as a proto-influencer and her pioneering approach to direct sales underscore the timeless principles that continue to shape consumer industries today.

“Brownie Wise was like this really, as we say, a proto influencer and sort of like direct sales appeal and the power of just like someone, you know, or, you know, maybe you follow on TikTok and feel like, you know, has not abated.”
— Willa Paskin [29:37]

The episode concludes by reflecting on how the innovative strategies employed by Tupperware's founders remain relevant, highlighting the enduring impact of their approaches in today's economy.

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Notable Quotes

• “She seemed authentic. She was warm and fun. And unlike all those male traveling salesmen, she could recommend products to other women as a peer.”
  — Willa Paskin [09:40]

• “Tupperware Parties sort of pioneered this concept of, like, women selling to women. It is a completely different selling experience.”
  — Amanda Mull [16:37]

• “We're still living in the world that Tupperware built, and we probably will be for quite some time.”
  — Amanda Mull [08:20]

• “Brownie Wise was like this really, as we say, a proto influencer and sort of like direct sales appeal and the power of just like someone... has not abated.”
  — Willa Paskin [29:37]

---

For those interested in exploring more about Tupperware and its intricate history, the full episode of Decoder Ring is available in the show notes.

Transcript

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[Willa Paskin]

Planet Money from NPR.

[Jeff Guo]

Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Jeff Guo, and today I am joined by Willa Paskin. Hey, Willa.

[Willa Paskin]

Hi, Jeff. Hi, Planet Money.

[Jeff Guo]

Willa, you are the host of the Decoder Ring podcast from Slate. And you guys are like professional rabbit hole finders, right? You guys are so good at just finding these things in the world that we think we all understand, but you're like, no, no. Taking you on this whole improbable journey saga that's delightful but often kind of weird, and we always end up learning something new.

[Willa Paskin]

Thank you so much. That's very nice. I do consider myself a professional rabbit hole. What is that? Digger binder?

[Jeff Guo]

Digit?

[Willa Paskin]

Digger rabbit. A professional rabbit hole rabbit. Yeah. No, we really, like, love to find things that are sort of hiding in plain sight and then go figure out why they've been hiding in plain sight the whole time.

[Jeff Guo]

Yeah. My favorite is when you guys decode something that I never thought needed decoding, like lawn ornaments.

[Willa Paskin]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff Guo]

Or jalapenos.

[Willa Paskin]

Not as spicy as they used to be, it turns out.

[Jeff Guo]

But. But there's one episode lately that all of us here at Planet Money cannot stop thinking about, and it is your episode about Tupperware.

[Willa Paskin]

Oh, talk about something hiding in your refrigerator right now.

[Jeff Guo]

Encrusted in mold, in my case. Yeah.

[Willa Paskin]

No, I mean, Tupperware is such an amazing and interesting subject because it is really this totally everyday object, like we all have, and it feels like it's always existed and it feels like it's maybe old fashioned. Yeah. But like, in this story is so much stuff that's just really alive and still kicking and just really still with us.

[Jeff Guo]

Yeah. I think what's so interesting about the story that you tell about Tupperware is how it was so revolutionary in so many ways, like not just the product, but also the sales strategy. And also it is a story about class and gender and told through this thing that we all buy and don't give any second thought to.

[Willa Paskin]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Jeff Guo]

So, Willa, will you take it away?

[Willa Paskin]

Oh, my God. It's my honor today on the show, the Tale of Tupperware the storage container is a stealthy star of the modern home. But where did Tupperware come from and how did it wind up taking over our lives?

[Jeff Guo]

It's the story of the product's success and the company's demise. That's all coming up after the break.

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Spectrum Business Working to power businesses nationwide with reliable connectivity services When Emily and Mike decided to start a custom shoe design store in Charlotte, North Carolina, they knew the road ahead wouldn't be easy. They dreamed of creating a fun, inspiring environment to promote self expression. But they knew they couldn't achieve their vision without reliable Internet. So they chose Spectrum to help them stay connected and to keep important tools like cloud based design programs running smoothly and as they grew, offering workshops, custom designs and more. Spectrum was there every step of the way with flexible pricing and dedicated 24. 7 service. Learn [e-mail] business restrictions apply services not available in all areas this message comes from NPR sponsor Intercom. Want to make your customer service dramatically better? With fin? You can fin, the leading AI customer service agent, is now available on every help desk. Fin can instantly resolve up to 80% of your tickets, which makes your customers happier. And you can get off the customer service rep hiring treadmill fin by Intercom named the number one AI agent in G2's winner. Report [e-mail] NPR Amanda Mull is a.

[Willa Paskin]

Senior reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek, where she writes a column trying to make sense of consumer culture.

[Amanda Mull]

Seeing people's neuroses and emotional lives play out and the way that they choose to spend time and money is fascinating to me.

[Willa Paskin]

Amanda is always noticing things and last, she became very curious about a strange kind of video that's all over the Internet. It's time for another drink fridge restock. It's been a little over a month, so we're going to get it full again with everybody. You just tell me what a restocking video is.

[Amanda Mull]

Restocking videos are usually a few minutes long. They are generally sort of a close up on a woman's hands taking a set of containers, usually out of a refrigerator, out of a pantry, out of a laundry room and and then those.

[Willa Paskin]

Hands start filling the containers with stuff.

[Amanda Mull]

Food or cleaning products stuffed and stacked.

[Willa Paskin]

And plunked and crunched and peeled and chopped and decanted.

[Amanda Mull]

Just thing after thing after thing being put inside of all of these crystal clear containers.

[Willa Paskin]

The hands are disembodied, you can't see who they belong to. And the women rarely talk. They let the containers speak for themselves.

[Amanda Mull]

A lot of people find the sound of things getting sort of crunched and plunked and put into these containers very satisfying. And then those containers are put back in the pantry, in the laundry room, wherever, and we're all stocked up.

[Willa Paskin]

It looks so beautiful, nice and full again. And where you had disarray, you now have order.

[Amanda Mull]

Everything is abundant, and you have all of your choices in front of you. And walking into your kitchen or your bathroom or your laundry room is like walking into a store drawer of your very own.

[Willa Paskin]

Okay, I love this drawer. I hope they love it, too. How popular are they?

[Amanda Mull]

Incredibly popular. There are people online who make an entire living out of making these videos. It's very, very easy to find ones that have millions or tens of millions of views. I think that to watch something that was like a little bit of a mess, go to clean and pristine and organized and perfect is satisfying for a lot of people.

[Willa Paskin]

This booming genre of video of people basically pouring pasta into plastic is fascinating all on its own. But over the years, as Amanda has seen more and more of these videos, a particular aspect of them started to jump out to her. The stars, the storage containers.

[Amanda Mull]

Plastic storage containers have never been more popular. They have never been more ubiquitous. They have never been more culturally salient.

[Willa Paskin]

Amanda's talking about regular, plain. Put your leftovers in them containers. She has some. I have some. I dare say you have some. They're easy to overlook because the focus is usually on what's inside of them. Everything from last night's dinner to, yes, dried pasta and Q tips and colored pencils. Still, they have become an absolute staple, not just of online videos, but mainstream home decor. Or, as the headline of a piece Amanda wrote for the Atlantic puts it, home influencers will not rest until everything has been put in a clear plastic storage bin.

[Amanda Mull]

There are clear acrylic containers in virtually every size and shape and scale. They are incredibly widespread, incredibly visible in culture, incredibly visible online.

[Willa Paskin]

These containers have crept into every corner of our lives. But it turns out that as modern as some of their uses are, this is not the first time we have lost it over an empty plastic box. They just used to go by another name.

[Amanda Mull]

We're all still living in the world that Tupperware built, and we probably will be for quite some time.

[Willa Paskin]

Tupperware is now an old and troubled company, but for years it was a thriving one. And it owes much of that success to an archetype we tend to think of as very contemporary.

[Amanda Mull]

Whether or not today's influencers realize it they are taking part in a long tradition of women using their careers charisma to ignite the imaginations of women around them.

[Willa Paskin]

And the proto influencer who started that tradition by turning Tupperware into a household name was Brownie Wise. Hello, this is Brownie.

[Bob Keeling]

You know, Brownie was a minimally educated woman from South Georgia.

[Willa Paskin]

Bob Keeling is a historian and the author of Tupperware Unsealed.

[Bob Keeling]

Her marriage fell apart not long after her son was born, so it was up to her to make money to raise him.

[Willa Paskin]

Brownie was working as a secretary in the suburbs of Detroit, making ends meet, when one day opportunity called.

[Bob Keeling]

Brownie has a guy for Stanley Home Products who knocks on her door, is selling these utilitarian home cleaning products, kind of dowdy brushes, brooms, you know, different things you can use around the house. And he gives this very fumbling demonstration of all the products. And she says, oh, my God, I could do better now.

[Willa Paskin]

So Brownie started selling Stanley Home Products herself. Sometimes we overlook the prospects closest to home. You know, from the start, she had the thing good salespeople have where even when they're selling you something, it doesn't feel like they're just trying to sell you something. She seemed authentic. She was warm and fun. And unlike all those male traveling salesmen, she could recommend products to other women as a peer.

[Amanda Mull]

That is just such a meaningfully different sales pitch than going to a store and buying something off a shelf.

[Willa Paskin]

Soon she was selling a lot of Stanley, which, by the way, is not the same company that makes the current very popular Big Cup. And she wanted to sell even more. But she hit a wall, or rather the man who ran the company.

[Bob Keeling]

She wanted to move up in the world. And she told him, I'd really like to get into management. And he said, honey, management's no place for a woman.

[Willa Paskin]

And so Brownie decided she was going to find something else to sell. A colleague had just pointed out a new product available in department stores. A product created by a chemist named Earl Tupper.

[Bob Keeling]

Earl Tupper was a spartan New Englander. He was a dyed in the wool inventor who had said, I am going to be a millionaire by the time I'm 30.

[Willa Paskin]

Long before he created his namesake product, Earl was constantly jotting down ideas and sketches in a notebook, like for a fish powered boat and for pants that wouldn't lose their crease. When the Great Depression hit, he took a job to support his family in a plastics factory in Massachusetts. By the 1940s, he had his own plastics manufacturing company. And when World War II ended. The multinational chemical company DuPont reached out and asked if Tupper could figure out what to do with this material. They developed a hard brown slag product they called polyethylene.

[Bob Keeling]

It was like a byproduct of what the military would use for helmets, a product no one else would consider even using.

[Willa Paskin]

Earl started experimenting with polyethylene, mixing it, processing it, refining it, and eventually he turned it into something brand new.

[Bob Keeling]

He was able to make it more malleable and softer, and he could even add certain dye colors to it to make it more attractive.

[Willa Paskin]

Earl named this promising new material Poly tea and set out to find a use for it. One day, Earl saw a paint can with its resealable lid, and he realized something like that would be really useful for food. At the time, home food storage was very haphazard. 1940s housewives would improvise, sometimes putting leftovers in a bowl, covering them with a shower cap. Earl saw an opening for something better, and so, using his poly T material, he set about creating a new kind of storage container. Unbreakable, attractive, and with an airtight resealable lid. He named the resulting product tupperware. And by 1946, he was ready to start placing his first products, including the pastel colored Wonderwear, in department stores, where they promptly just sat on the shelf.

[Bob Keeling]

It was not doing well. People didn't really know what to do with it.

[Amanda Mull]

They have to be told. Somebody has to identify the problem in their lives for them and then explain how a product fixes that problem. And that was the case with Tupperware.

[Willa Paskin]

When Brownie Wise saw Tupperware, she immediately knew how to explain it to her customers, how to make it comprehensible and also desirable. She started bringing it into women's homes and demonstrating its effectiveness in ways that would blow their minds.

[Bob Keeling]

She would take the Wonder bowl, she'd fill it up with grape juice, seal it, and then throw it across the room in somebody's family room. And they'd be aghast, but it wouldn't spill a drip.

[Willa Paskin]

And then Brownie would explain how to seal that very same Wonder Bowl.

[Bob Keeling]

You burp it just like a baby. That was one of the things Brownie would say to her prospective customers.

[Willa Paskin]

You burp a Tupperware just before sealing it completely by pressing down on the center of the lid while holding up one of the corners, forcing a little burp of air out and ostensibly locking in freshness.

[Amanda Mull]

I don't know if it's necessary, but this was like a thing that women were taught to do. When they got their first Tupperware, it was like after a meal, you burp your baby. After a meal, you burp your Tupperware. It is a small act of care toward your leftovers.

[Willa Paskin]

This turn of phrase was beyond Cami. Brownie knew her audience. Wives and mothers in the post war era who could afford to spend a little more, but felt more virtuous doing so when the exciting new product they were splurging on promised it was also the latest way to take care of their families. Soon, Brownie was selling $2 million worth of Tupperware in today's money, and she wasn't even officially affiliated with the company. When Tupperware saw her sales figures, that changed. They offered her distribution rights for the entire state of Florida.

[Bob Keeling]

It took about 15 seconds to say, oh, it's warm down there. Yeah, we'll go.

[Willa Paskin]

Brownie quickly set up a shop in Fort Lauderdale called Patio Parties. Not only was she selling Tupperware herself, but she was also recruiting other women, teaching them her winning sales pitches and then sending them off to sell Tupperware too. But no one was just knocking on doors. Brownie had developed a more compelling method, one she'd first learned about from her old company, Stanley, and then honed and improved. She had the Tupperware party.

[Narrator]

Now, let's go to a little town in New Jersey where things are really popping. Yes, there's a party going on at Mrs. Betty Martin's house. It's a Tupperware party and it's really fun.

[Bob Keeling]

You get somebody who would be willing to host the party. It turns into a social gathering.

[Narrator]

The girls get together and meet their old friends and make some new ones.

[Amanda Mull]

Women would come over and have hors d'oeuvres and maybe cocktails and chat and.

[Bob Keeling]

Gossip, and they would give their demonstration.

[Narrator]

Watch her show the way to use Tupperware's patented seal.

[Willa Paskin]

See, a Tupperware party was such a good time, it could obscure that it was also, for at least the women doing the demonstrations, work. In the late 40s and early 50s, selling Tupperware, something that happened almost entirely in the female sphere, was a socially sanctioned way for women to bring in money to be a part of the working world, but one in which business degrees and special training were less valuable than a wide social circle. An eye for presentation and the personal experience, charm, and authority to recommend a product.

[Amanda Mull]

Tupperware Parties sort of pioneered this concept of, like, women selling to women. It is a completely different selling experience. To hear somebody say, oh, you've got to try these. They're so cute. They're so useful. I can order you a set if you're interested.

[Willa Paskin]

This kind of direct sales method, which is now everywhere and not always for the good, worked incredibly well. In 1951, Tupperware's owner, Earl Tupper, arranged to meet with Brownie face to face for the first time. Soon after, he decided that her sales strategy, the Tupperware party, would be Tupperware's only sales strategy. Goodbye, department stores. Goodbye, any stores at all. He also moved Tupperware headquarters down to Kissimmee, Florida, the state in which Brownie was already located, and gave her a promotion.

[Bob Keeling]

He told her, you know, when you talk, people listen. And he made her the head of sales for the brand new home party division that he created at her encouragement to sell the product exclusively through home parties.

[Willa Paskin]

The national scaling of these home parties changed everything for Tupperware.

[Narrator]

This is Tupperware.

[Willa Paskin]

It became an IT product, a modern marvel that was the must have item of the day, something I initially anyway found a little hard to understand. It's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around the status symbol ness of Tupperware because it's pedestrian and plastic and it stores food like it is just this plastic container. You know, like what. What made it so revered?

[Amanda Mull]

Humans love to take objects and imbue them with meaning. And sometimes it doesn't really matter what the object is. If it's in the right place at the right time, it can be an incredibly meaningful thing. And that is what you got with Tupperware. And I think it makes a lot of sense if you think about how Tupperware spread. You couldn't just go into a store and if you had the money, you could buy it. You had to be invited to a Tupperware party. You had to have social ties to people who could get it for you. You had to have enough money to actually buy it. And then when you had it, it was this indicator that you were up on the latest things and also that you were a fastidious and reasonable steward of your family's domestic life.

[Willa Paskin]

Tupperware had the release model cachet of a streetwear brand and the trendiness of, yes, a Stanley cup, all while making wives and mothers feel good about how they were being wives and mothers. And so it became a behemoth. Tupperware amassed 20,000 dealers across the country, women who worship Brownie as a sales God, an aspirational lifestyle guru, and who flogged enough Tupperware that the company soon reached $25 million in retail sales almost $300 million in today's money.

[Bob Keeling]

I mean, Earl Tupper's over the moon. He's finally found found somebody to burp his baby.

[Willa Paskin]

Soon Brownie, with her incredible story, became the face of the brand. Heralded as a single mom, revealed to be a sales genius, now leading an army of salesmen.

[Narrator]

I hadn't realized there were so many people in the Tupperware family. And to think there are more than 10,000 others who could not be here.

[Bob Keeling]

Brownie was the communicator. Brownie was the motivator. Brownie loved to get out among the public and have her picture taken. And so Brownie started becoming famous as the Tupperware Lady.

[Willa Paskin]

Brownie went on talk shows and did interviews for countless magazines. She became the very first woman to appear on the COVID of Business Week. She wrote an entire memoir, business Manual, and the press often credited her with the success of Tupperware.

[Bob Keeling]

Nominally, Earl Tupper is the president of the company, but she's the genius behind this. It was good advertising. It spread the message. But ultimately that's what started to cause the friction with Tupper and Brownie.

[Jeff Guo]

After the break, how Tupperware, the company started to crack and how its descendants lived on.

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[Willa Paskin]

As the 50s wore on, Earl became increasingly aggravated by Brownie's popularity. Brownie became increasingly aggravated by Earl's micromanaging They were both trying to grow the company, but they were often at odds. A situation that became prickly and tense over time.

[Bob Keeling]

And then the big thing was the annual Jubilee in Kissimmee in July of 1957.

[Narrator]

Yes, this is Jubilee 1957, the Tupperware Homecoming Jubilee. Called by many the most unusual sales convention in the world.

[Willa Paskin]

The Tupperware Jubilee was an annual over the top themed celebration and team building exercise Brownie had started in the early 1950s. Tupperware dealers and managers would come to Tupperware headquarters on their own dime for an elaborate four day show of appreciation and indoctrination.

[Bob Keeling]

Oh, they wear costumes, they'd sing their songs. I got that topper feeling down in my heart. I mean, they were into it.

[Willa Paskin]

For the 1957 Jubilee, the theme was around the World in 80 Days. And the highlight was a massive excursion organized by Brownie.

[Bob Keeling]

Brownie had bought her own island in the middle of Lake Toho, which is in Kissimmee, right near Tupperware headquarters. And Brownie had decided she was going to have a luau on her private island.

[Willa Paskin]

So the thousand plus attendees all headed off to Brownie's island in boats, ready to party. But the weather had something else in mind.

[Bob Keeling]

If you're ever in central Florida in the summer, in the evening you can almost set your watch by the thunderstorms, the that are going to brew up. And sure enough, they did. And there was no cover for anybody on the island. The boat drivers were struggling to get people back on dry land and there were a bunch of boat accidents and there were people injured and it was a disaster. And Brownie left and went home.

[Amanda Mull]

Wait, sorry.

[Willa Paskin]

So she gets off.

[Bob Keeling]

Brownie left. She saved her own skin, let's say.

[Willa Paskin]

You know, by the end of the evening, 21 people were in the hospital with serious injuries.

[Bob Keeling]

Some of the people who were injured ended up filing lawsuits. And Earl Tupper wanted no part of that. And he was livid.

[Willa Paskin]

Earl had also already started thinking about cashing out and selling the company. And he did not want a headstrong, self interested female executive with a lot of pull internally and externally to get in the way.

[Bob Keeling]

He felt she would be a liability. He was just going to go out there and say, you're done.

[Willa Paskin]

Earl Tupper fired Brownie Wise in January of 1958. She didn't own any stock or have any stake in the company. She didn't even own the house she lived in. And she never again achieved the kind of success she'd had at Tupperware. Meanwhile, at the end of the year, Earl sold Tupperware to rexall drug for $16 million, divorced his wife, and bought his own island off the coast of Panama. He also renounced his American citizenship to avoid paying taxes. All this means that by 1959, the two people most responsible for making Tupperware Tupperware were no longer at the company. But they had done such a good job establishing the brand that even without them, Tupperware entered a golden age that lasted for decades.

[Narrator]

She told me, hun.

[Willa Paskin]

We'Re having a.

[Narrator]

Party, a Tupperware party. It's Tupperware's 10th birthday, and you're getting the present. For over 30 years, Tupperware has revolutionized food stories. Now we've revolutionized food preparation. Tupperware, now you're cooking.

[Willa Paskin]

It's in the 60s and 70s that Tupperware became a fact of American life. It was a useful and popular product, but also an iconic and intimate one that almost everyone had a personal connection to.

[Amanda Mull]

My mom still uses the Cake Keeper, and like, I don't know what else she would put a cake in. Like, it has to be the old Tupperware thing. And you can also tell what the big, like, aesthetic color palette of a particular decade was in America by what colors Tupperware came in during those years. You know, in the 60s, it was like pastels. It was very girly, it was very feminine. In 70s and 80s, you get avocado green and citrus and orange, and it's all very, like, warm and deep and sort of looks like you smoked around it for a long time.

[Narrator]

And more, more, more delicious colors. Go to a party.

[Amanda Mull]

Soon Tupperware got so big and so dominant that it was one of these sort of rare American brands where the name of the brand becomes synonymous with an entire type of product, no matter who it's made by.

[Narrator]

Your Tupperware lady has the freshest ideas for locking in freshness.

[Willa Paskin]

But in the 1980s, Tupperware's fortunes slowly started to turn. With more and more women in the workforce, the Tupperware party started to seem like a lot of effort just to get something to hold leftover mashed potatoes. And in the years to come, the plastic holding those potatoes became a known health hazard. The very things that had once been so innovative about Tupperware were starting to hold it back. Still, Tupperware might have been able to survive if not for the competition. But when Earl Tupper's patents ran out, you could buy other perfectly functional food storage containers, often for less at any store. You might call whatever container you were buying Tupperware. But strictly speaking, it was not. For years, things were obviously trending in the wrong direction. But it all came to a head In September of 2024 for Tupperware, the party is over. The iconic brand, once a staple of American kitchens, filed this week for bankruptcy, citing what it called macroeconomic challenges. Tupperware. The brand still exists, even a diminished state. It's actually even sold in stores where it competes with its own design descendants who are thriving. We're still living in the world that Tupperware built. We are also inhabiting it a little differently.

[Jeff Guo]

You know, Willa, listening to this episode, one thing that really jumps out at me is how much the Tupperware story sounds familiar. Like, it seemed to prefigure all of these things that we see in the economy today. Right?

[Willa Paskin]

Yeah. I mean, Brownie Wise was like this really, as we say, a proto influencer and sort of like direct sales appeal and the power of just like someone, you know, or, you know, maybe you follow on TikTok and feel like, you know, has not abated. All of those things are still a huge part of what's driving sales and what we buy. And she figured that all out a really long time.

[Jeff Guo]

Yeah, I'd be terrified if she had had a TikTok back then. She could have taken over the world.

[Willa Paskin]

Oh, my God. I know. What would you have done? I mean, maybe. Maybe she would have sold less Tupperware or she would have taken over the world. Those are the choices.

[Jeff Guo]

Those are the only two choices. For even more about Tupperware and storage containers, this was just part of the full Decoder Ring episode. The full episode is linked in our show notes.

[Willa Paskin]

Our original episode of Decoder Ring was reported and produced by Olivia Briley. Decoder Ring is also produced by me, Evan Chung, Max Friedman, and Kate Derek. John was executive producer. Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.

[Jeff Guo]

The Planet Money edition of this episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by our executive producer, Alex Goldmark. I'm Jeff Kuo.

[Willa Paskin]

And I'm Willa Paskin. This is npr. Thanks for listening.

[Jeff Guo]

I actually am so surprised that they could just chuck like a Tupperware full of grape juice across the room. Cause I can't do that.

[Willa Paskin]

I know isn't insane.

[Jeff Guo]

Did they have some secret technology that we, like, is lost to time now that we don't have?

[Willa Paskin]

We'd have to. We're like, fact checked, Brownie.

[Amanda Mull]

I don't know.

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[Lakeisha Gaines]

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