Tupperware, invented in 1946 in the New England region of the United States by amateur designer Earl Silas Tupper, popularized polyethylene as a domestic plastic used for food storage and as fancy goods in the home. Using the party-plan direct-sales method, Tupperware and Tupperware parties came to define a new form of postwar sociality based around informal food consumption and conspicuous consumerism. The Tupperware party began in the United States and expanded to Europe and Japan in the 1960s. Today, Tupperware remains a globally available product whose nomenclature has become the generic term for plastic containers. Corporate statistics estimate that a Tupperware party takes place somewhere in the world every 2.5 seconds, and the traditional home-based party has spread to Internet distribution and virtual online ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles