Here at Tupperware, we’re celebrating our Birthday Month and 67 years of the party! Luckily, we’re the founders of fresh so we’re not really showing our age.
There are definitely reasons for our Hosts and party guests to celebrate , and that might be all you need to know, but what are our reasons for celebrating each May? To answer that, we look to a history that’s as colorful as our products.
When the first line of Tupperware (the iconic, pastel Millionaire Line) began hitting the shelves in 1947, it was critically acclaimed, but sales were lackluster, and the displays started gathering dust. People were still wary since most plastics available until then were brittle and even smelly. Earl Tupper’s highly engineered resin and patented, liquid-tight seal offered something new and different, but needed to be demonstrated for people to understand the benefits.
Tupperware was first sold on the party plan in 1948 by a remarkably industrious group of people including Brownie Wise, her mother Rose Humphrey and Gary McDonald in Detroit and Tom and Ann Damigella in Boston. Earl Tupper took notice of these growing sales and reached out to discover their secrets.
Brownie Wise, born May 25, 1913, proved so impressive to Tupper (and pretty much everyone else) that on May 7, 1951, he appointed her general sales manager (and she would soon become vice president as well). She convinced him to remove Tupperware entirely from retail stores, and she focused on building and supporting a growing sales force in the U.S. and Canada.
Throughout the 50s, Brownie and the Tupperware opportunity helped women realize their full potential. She showed women that they could work hard to make their wishes come true, whether their goals entailed a little extra grocery money or skyrocketing to the heights of entrepreneurial success. The endeavors, both large and small, of those early Tupperware ladies undeniably elevated their statuses in their homes and their communities. Who knew that so much incredible social change could come in the form of burping, pastel bowls? Well, obviously, Brownie did.
To this day, we are grateful to Brownie for her vision that every woman can become a respected, empowered business owner.
So it just makes sense that our Birthday Month celebrates Brownie’s birthday. To this day, we are grateful to Brownie for her vision that every woman can become a respected, empowered business owner. Her vision transformed not only our company, but the status of North American women and, now, that of women around the world.
One more reason we celebrate Birthday Month in May? It’s one that those of us at the Home Office celebrate every day: Brownie was the one who convinced Earl Tupper to locate the home office in beautiful Florida. On May 30, 1952, Brownie and Earl announced the purchase of a thousand acres in Orlando, Florida, just outside of Kissimmee, where the home office has remained ever since. Why don’t you come and see us sometime?
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