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Party is over for bankrupt Tupperware

Allan Rose Hill / 11:56 am PT Wed Sep 18, 2024

image: Ahmad Nazrol Bin Mohammed/Shutterstock

Tupperware, the company behind the iconic plastic food storage containers, is bankrupt.

Tupperware's rise began in the 1940s when Earl Tupper, a chemist, invented a lightweight, airtight plastic container that revolutionized food storage. But the real genius behind Tupperware's success was Brownie Wise, a single mother who pioneered the now-famous "Tupperware Party" sales model. In the 1950s, she saw potential in direct selling through social gatherings, turning housewives into salespeople. This grassroots strategy catapulted Tupperware to household fame and, having now expanded to individual sellers hawking their, um, wares on social media, still accounts for the company's sales. But it ain't enough.