Earl Tupper created Tupperware after patenting an airtight seal for flexible plastic containers.
Tupper developed his containers in the 1940s using polyethylene, a lightweight plastic then associated with industrial applications. His patented seal worked when the lid was pressed down, forcing air out around the rim and creating a tight closure.
Tupperware initially struggled in ordinary retail stores because customers could not easily understand how to use the seal. The company’s fortunes changed when Brownie Wise promoted home parties, where demonstrators could show the containers directly to potential buyers.
Earl Tupper founded the company that became Tupperware, but he was not the person who made its direct-selling system famous. Brownie Wise became a major sales leader and public face of the business. The brand name is therefore associated both with Tupper’s invention and with home-party selling.