9 Things You Didn't Know About Tupperware
And one thing we're sure you do remember: The glorious retro ads.
You use the classic containers to house leftovers and organize your fridge, but what do you really know about Tupperware? Ever since the brand emerged in the post-war era alongside refrigerators at home, Tupperware has been an extremely common household product. But they're much more than just plastic bowls and lids:
Tupperware was invented by Earl Tupper in 1938.
When Tupper's landscaping company went out of business during the Great Depression, he luckily found work in a plastics factory. Always the closet inventor, he bought a few of their molding machines and began tinkering at home. The first true commericial iteration of Tupperware came about after WWII, when DuPont asked him to explore peacetime uses for their plastic.
The lid design was inspired by a paint can.
This model achieved a partial vacuum seal, important for keeping food fresh.
Tupper's first product, the Wonderbowl, introduced the iconic "burp seal."
The original Tupperware was known for the burping sound it made when the lid would seal. This highly-advertised feature was widely recognized. How widely? Decades later, even Seinfeld comically referred to how the burp "locked in freshness."
The products originally failed in stores.
Consumers didn't understand the design of the lids (a fact that baffles us now), so no one was buying Tupperware at the store. Enter: Tupperware parties.
The first Tupperware party was held in 1949 by a single mom in Detroit.
Brownie Wise came to Tupper with the idea of holding events where people could show their friends how Tupperware worked. By 1951, the concept was so successful that Tupper decided to pull the product from stores and sell exclusively through parties.
The Guinness Book of World Records named Tupperware one of the greatest inventions of the 20th Century.
The Rubik's Cube and the Walkman also made the list. (But computers didn't! Computers!)
Today, across the globe, a Tupperware party is held every 1.4 seconds.
Although you might think Tupperware parties went the way of the poodle skirt, they still occur worldwide and are the main outlet for selling Tupperware. Over 500,000 Tupperware parties are held each year in France alone.
It remains a billion-dollar industry.
In 2014, Tupperware Brands Corp. made $2.61 billion in revenue. That's enough to make us consider throwing a Tupperware party ourselves.
And who knows—your retro Tupperware could be worth something!
If you've been hanging on to any vintage sets, you might be able to cash in on them. On sites like eBay and Etsy, you can find sets listed for as much as a $100. The orange set you see here is going for $95. Stacy Verdick Case, who owns Peony Lane Designs, told TODAY most individual items she sees sell for $2 to $20 apiece. Antiquing site Dusty Old Thing says pieces have sold for as much as $60 a pop. That durability pays off!
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