Earl Tupper was born in New Hampshire in 1907. He was a poor student and spent much of his young life drawing inventions in a notebook, according to the PBS show "American Experience."
His inventions, however, did not lead to financial success. For this reason, Tupper began working in a plastics industry to support himself and, later, his wife and children. Eventually, he established his own company in Leominster, which was a manufacturing center at the time.
Tupper started out making plastic soap and cigarette cases, but the big hit came after World War II. After the war, the chemical company Dupont was trying to increase sales of a new substance called polyethylene.
According to BusinessInsider, polyethylene was a popular component of radar equipment during the war. It was "the resin that helped win World War II," Plastics News reported in 2007. Then Dupont, the company that made it, turned it into the most widely used type of plastic, promoting its use in packaging, toys and other consumer goods.
By 1946, Tupper had perfected plastic to make cookware. It took some experimentation, but the entrepreneur used polyethylene to make the first Tupperware set. Tupper's "miracle cup" was sealed, allowing the contents to not spill out. They could also expel air before sealing to keep food fresh. Tupper sold his cookware in department stores and a showroom in Manhattan, but sales were slow.
Meanwhile, in Florida, a woman named Brownie Wise ran a company called Patio Parties. Wise had worked as an advice columnist before starting to sell Tupperware. Her company's problem: Tupperware was so new that most people didn't understand how it worked if they saw it on a store shelf.
Instead, Wise sold Tupperware by showing how it worked at parties. The events targeted stay-at-home women who bought the cookware after seeing its advantages over glass and ceramic alternatives.
Importantly, Wise also recruited some of these women to host their own parties, which put Tupperware in front of new potential customers. Tupperware was one of several multi-level marketing companies at the time, along with the cosmetics company Avon.
Tupperware parties
Wise's strategy worked. One woman he recruited sold 56 bowls in one week. Tapper himself eventually heard about Wise's success. In 1951, he hired her as vice president of marketing for Tupperware.
Tupper remained focused on growing the business, while Wise created the Tupperware dealer network and most of the company's public-facing parts. Tupperware built its headquarters near Orlando in 1953.
Tapper bought 1.300 acres of land in Kissimmee, Florida, south of Orlando, in 1953. The area was a small farming town at the time, according to the company. Part of this land still houses the company's headquarters today.
Tupperware sales reached $25 million in 1954. Tupper oversaw production, while Wise expanded Tupperware's party model throughout the U.S. during the 1950s. Wise nationalized the model she had developed in Florida. At Tupperware parties, attendees played various games.
Modeling was also a key source of income for women working as traders, many of whom had no income other than what their husbands earned. Wise also held an annual Jubilee event that recognized top-selling dealers and presented them with prizes, including a brand new car.
But Tapper envied the attention Wise received as the brand's public face. In 1958, he and the company's board of directors fired her, and Tapper sold the company later that year to the drugstore chain Rexall for $9 million, according to the New York Times.
Tupperware continued to grow in the 1960s and 1970s, reaching new countries such as the United Kingdom. Tapper divorced his wife and moved to Costa Rica in an attempt to avoid paying taxes in the US.
Meanwhile, Tupperware parties continued in the US, Europe and elsewhere. A 1961 television commercial extolled the virtues of hosting a party, including free Tupperware for the hostess and her guests. "It's a Tupperware party and it's really fun," says the narrator. But in the 1980s, the patents for Tupper's products began to expire. This allowed other companies to produce cheaper versions of Tupperware's products and undercut its sales. At the same time, more women than ever were working full-time.
US women's share of the labor force rose from 34 percent in 1950 to 60 percent in 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tupperware was acquired by Kraft, the food company, in 1980. Kraft tried new products and sales strategies. But none of this was enough to turn the brand's fortunes around. Kraft ended up divesting the brand in 1996.
Mountain problems
Tupperware then tried new ways to reach consumers, from mall kiosks to brand partnerships to online sales. It has also partnered with other brands, such as Loop, which makes reusable packaging for consumer brands, retailers and restaurants. The gradual recovery took its stock above $35 a share in November 2020. But the follow-up was not commensurate, and it lost almost half of its value in April 2023, when the company warned investors that it could cease operations. her.
The sequel was very difficult. Tupperware failed to comply with New York Stock Exchange requirements when it failed to file an annual report for 2022 earlier this year. It has hired financial advisers to attract new investors, but last August it warned it would delay reporting first- and second-quarter earnings results, and moved back the timing of quarterly reports for the fourth quarter of 2023.
The lock in Thebes
Finally, it is noted that the company came to Greece in 1964 and three years later the Tupperware factory in Thebes began operating. After 56 years, however, the tapers cease - apparently - to be "Greek-made", or to be precise, this refers to those manufactured in Greece. Reason, the decision of the American business group Tupperware Brands Corporation to close the factory of its subsidiary Tupperware Hellas in the industry of plastic household goods in Thebes from 13/4, based on the information to the staff and what had seen the light of day after the first week of March.
Source: newmoney