National Plastics Center & Museum

Earl Tupper (1907-1983) founded Tupperware Brands Corporation in 1938. Tupper's method of purifying a by-product of the oil refining process resulted in affordable polyethylene -- plastic -- products in a rainbow of colors for a wide range of kitchen and home uses. Tupper introduced the line in 1946 through department and hardware stores; sales were steady but modest until the advent of Tupperware Home Parties (based on a similar strategy developed by Stanley Home Products). The Home Parties were an immediate success and in 1958 Earl Tupper was able to sell the company for $16 million.

Tupperware spread to England and thence to Europe in the 1960s. As of 2009 Tupperware was being sold in nearly 100 countries -- still primarily through the home party method, though in some cases under alternate product names (for example, Kompakt-System in Germany and Eleganzia in England).

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