Tupperware Unsealed

You undoubtedly know what Tupperware is, but did you ever wonder where the name came from? The product is named after its inventor Earl Tupper and is the subject of a fascinating new book titled "Tupperware Unsealed" by Orlando author and journalist Bob Kealing.

By the time Mr. Tupper invented Tupperware, he was already the owner of an industrial plastics business that manufactured parts for wartime products including jeeps, gas masks and navy signal lamps. But in 1945, World War II was over and in order to survive, Mr. Tupper had to come up with a line of new products. Raw materials were still in short supply, including plastic resin. However, polyethylene was plentiful and cheap. That was the good news. The bad news was that polyethylene, as Mr. Kealing described it, was, "a smelly glob of greasy, rubbery, black slag." Mr. Tupper worked with that unlikely glob for months. Ultimately, he transformed it into a light pastel material that could be molded into food-storage bowls and beyond that into millions of dollars.

However, as brilliant as Mr. Tupper was when it came to creating products, he was out of his element when it came to marketing them. Initially, he focused on selling his Tupperware bowls to chains of department stores. It wasn't a good match. And it wasn't until 1951 when he met Brownie Wise, a dynamo of a saleswoman, that Tupperware's future soared.

Ms. Wise was already the Orlando-based company's best saleswoman. Her secret was that she and her dealers sold Tupperware at home parties. But she was having a terrible time getting product. Angry and frustrated, she called company headquarters from Miami, where she was living, and demanded to speak to Mr.

Tupper. He, of course,

already knew who she was and told her he wanted to meet with her. She agreed, but he had to come to her. They met on April 2, 1951. The next day, Mr. Tupper created the Tupperware Home Parties Division and named Ms. Wise as general sales manager.

This was a brave move on Mr. Tupper's part because women executives were nonexistent in 1951, but Ms. Wise's performance proved the wisdom of his decision. She was the first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week and a role model for thousands of American housewives who became successful businesswomen. In their short tenure — Mr. Tupper would fire Ms. Wise in January 1958 — she literally made Tupperware a household name and brought in millions of dollars in sales.

Mr. Kealing's book, which tells the story of their tempestuous business relationship and the explosion of Tupperware into public awareness is well researched and documented, but this isn't a typical rags-to-riches success story. Mr. Kealing understands and shares with readers what motivated these people, why they were both successful and unsuccessful and reveals the inside story of a corporate giant. "Tupperware Unsealed" is a good read and breathes life into a fascinating but previously ignored segment of Florida's history.