Skip to main content Skip to main navigation
heart-solid My Visit Donate
Home
Press Enter to activate a submenu, down arrow to access the items and Escape to close the submenu.
    • Overview
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Entry and Guidelines
    • Maps and Brochures
    • Dine and Shop
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Group Visits
    • Overview
    • Exhibitions
    • Online Events
    • All Events
    • IMAX & Planetarium
    • Overview
    • Topics
    • Collections
    • Research Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Stories
    • Overview
    • For Caregivers
    • For Educators
    • For Students
    • For Academics
    • For Lifelong Learners
    • Overview
    • Become a Member
    • Renew Membership
    • Make a Gift
    • Volunteer
    • Overview
    • Our Organization
    • Our Leadership
    • Reports and Plans
    • Newsdesk
heart-solid My Visit Donate

Earl S. Tupper Papers

National Museum of American History

Earl S. Tupper Papers
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
Finding aid
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .

Object Details

sova.nmah.ac.0470
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ad4a9c5b-f0e3-47e5-8cc3-97c5acb9a0a4
Creator
Tupper, Earl Silas, 1907-
Tupper Corporation
Names
Tupperware Home Parties
Tupper, Glenn O.
Tupper, Miles
Topic
Plastics
Plastic container industry
Plastic tableware
Product demonstrations
Business -- History
Marketing
advertising
Inventors
Provenance
The materials were donated to the Archives Center in 1992 by Glenn O. Tupper, Earl Tupper's son.
Creator
Tupper, Earl Silas, 1907-
Tupper Corporation
See more items in
Earl S. Tupper Papers
Summary
Papers documenting inventor Earl S. Tupper, his inventions, Tupperware and the Tupper Company.
Biographical / Historical
Earl Silas Tupper was born in 1907, to a New Hampshire farming family of modest means. During his youth and boyhood in New England, his mother Lulu Clark Tupper, took in laundry and ran a boarding house, while his father, Earnest Leslie operated a small family farm. Earnest Tupper loved to tinker, developing labor-saving devices for the farm and family greenhouses; one of his devices, a frame to facilitate the cleaning of chickens, was granted a patent. It is from his father that Earl Tupper is said to have developed a love for invention. Even as a boy, Tupper showed an enterprising and entrepreneurial spirit. At the age of 10, Earl discovered he could move more of the family's produce by selling door-to-door, bringing the product directly to the customer. After high school graduation in 1925, Tupper continued to work in the family greenhouses in Shirley Massachusetts for two years. Tupper was an ambitious young man, though, and he was determined to earn his first million by the time he was thirty. During the twenties, he set out on a number of different paths, including work as a mail clerk and on a railroad labor crew. In 1928, he took a course in tree surgery, with the idea of setting up his own tree surgery and landscaping business. He continued to help out with the family business, and got married in 1931. Through the early thirties, the landscaping and nursery business continued to grow and thrive, despite the Depression, enabling Tupper to pursue some of his ideas and inventions. His scientific notebooks for this period reflect the diversity of his interests. Even after Tupper Tree Doctors was forced into bankruptcy in 1936, Tupper remained optimistic about his ability to develop and manufacture some of his inventions. In 1936, Tupper met Bernard Doyle, the inventor of Viscoloid, the plastics manufacturing division of DuPont, located in nearby Leominster, Mass. He went to work for DuPont in 1937, but stayed there only one year. Later, Tupper would say it was at Dupont "that my education really began." Tupper took the experience he had gained in plastics design and manufacturing at DuPont, and struck out on his own. In 1938, he formed the Earl S. Tupper Company, advertising the design and engineering of industrial plastics products in Leominster, Massachusetts. Much of the fledgling company's early work was performed under subcontract to DuPont. Business was good during the war, because despite the difficulty of acquiring the raw materials necessary for plastics production for the domestic market, Tupper Plastics was able to garner several defense contracts, molding parts for gas masks and Navy signal lamps. After the war, Tupper turned his attention to developing plastics for the growing consumer market. Many of his earliest designs, which included plastic sandwich picks, cigarette cases, and an unbreakable tumbler for the bathroom, were offered as premiums with other products. For example, Tek toothbrushes offered the tumbler with purchase of a toothbrush, and cigarette companies and other businesses offered cigarette cases imprinted with their logo. Plastics was still in its infancy in the forties, and the commercial market for plastics product was limited by plastic's reputation for being brittle, greasy, smelly and generally unreliable. Tupper's contributions were twofold. First, he developed a method for purifying black polyethylene slag, a waste product produced in oil refinement, into a substance that was flexible, tough, non-porous, non-greasy and translucent. Second, he developed the Tupper seal, an airtight, watertight lid modeled on the lid for paint containers. Together, these innovations laid the foundations for the future success of Tupperware. Nevertheless, marketing the new product presented a challenge. Tupper experimented with department store sales, but as Businessweek reported in 1954, "in retail stores it fell flat on its face." It seemed clear that the new lid required explanation or demonstration. In the late 1940s, Thomas Damigella (in Massachusetts) and Brownie Wise (in Florida) were selling household products through Stanley Home Products. Purchasing through local plastics distributors, both began offering Tupperware as part of their product line, and were moving enough Tupperware to attract Earl Tupper's attention. In 1948, Tupper met with Damigella, Wise, and several other local distributors at a Sheraton in Worcester Massachusetts to discuss a new distribution plan. Modeled on the home party plan pioneered by Stanley Home Products and expanded and refined by Brownie Wise, the home party plan became and remains the exclusive outlet for Tupperware. Wise was named Vice President of the company (named Tupperware Home Parties) in 1951, a position she held until 1958, when Tupper sold the company to Rexall for $16 million. Tupperware's success stems from the combined genius of Earl Tupper, the self-styled Yankee inventor and entrepreneur and Brownie Wise, the consummate saleswoman and motivator. If Tupper personified reverence for the product, Wise personified respect for the sales force. "If we build the people," she was fond of saying, "they'll build the business." Almost half a century later, their legacy remains an important part of Tupperware's continuing success. Earl S. Tupper died on October 5, 1983.
Extent
14 Cubic feet (29 boxes, 1 map-folder)
Date
2003
1908-1989
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.0470
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Advertising fliers
Business records
Personal papers
Photographs
Business letters
Notes
Clippings
Family papers
Interviews
Citation
Earl S. Tupper Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Arrangement
The collection is organized into five series. Series 1: Personal Papers, 1910-1989 Series 2: Early Business Papers and Scientific Notes, 1930-1965 Series 3: Tupper Corporation/Tupperware Business, 1908-1983 Series 4: Neil Osterweill Oral Histories and Research Notes, 1926-1989 Subseries 4.1: Research Files, 1926-1989 Subseries 4.2: Original Masters, 1987-1989 Subseries 4.3:Research Copies, 1987-1989 Subseries 4.4:Research Copies, 1987-1989 Subseries 4.5: Preservation Copies, undated Series 5: Center for Advertising History, Oral History Interviews, 1992 Subseries 5.1: Original Masters, 1992 Subseries 5.2: Research Copies, 1992 Subseries 5.3: Research Copies, 1992 Subseries 5.4: Preservation Copies, 1992 Subseries 5.5: Abstracts and Transcripts, 1992, 2003
Processing Information
Processed by Mimi Minnick, archivist, 1996; revised Alison Oswald, archivist, 2004 and 2014.
Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.
Advertising fliers
Business records -- 20th century
Personal papers -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Business letters
Notes
Clippings
Family papers
Interviews
Scope and Contents
The collection documents the life of inventor Earl S. Tupper through correspondence, notes, photographs, drawings and sound recordings.
Restrictions
Collection is open for research but master (preservation) tapes are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at [email protected] or 202-633-3270.
Related Materials
Materials in the Archives Center Leo Baekeland Papers (AC0005) DuPont Nylon Collection (AC0007) J. Harry DuBois Collection on the History of Plastics (AC0008) Celluloid Corporation Records (AC0009) Albany Billiard Ball Company Records (AC#0011) Brownie Wise Papers (AC0509) Ann and Thomas Damigella Collection (AC0583) Materials at the National Museum of American History Tupperware related artifacts are located in the Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life), the Division of Medicine and Science and the Division of Work and Industry. See accessions: 1983.0711; 1984.1098; 1985.3014; 1985.3015; 1987.0180; 1990.3055; 1992.0209; 1992.0605; 1993.0257; 1994.0118; 1994.0124; 1995.0109; 1998.0070; 1998.0220; 2012.0133; and 2014.3077.
NMAH.AC.0470
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ad4a9c5b-f0e3-47e5-8cc3-97c5acb9a0a4
NMAH.AC.0470
ACAH
Record ID
ebl-1503513407879-1503513407888-0

  • Images 17 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Archival materials 271 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Audio 109 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Drawings (visual works) 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Sound recordings 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Volumes 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Albums 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Books 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Holographs 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Manuscripts 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Photographs 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Sketches 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1890s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1900s 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1910s 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1920s 15 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1930s 27 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1940s 37 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1950s 43 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1960s 16 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1970s 12 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1980s 43 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1990s 20 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 2000s 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers 271 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 3: Tupper Corporation/Tupperware Business Records 61 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 4: Neil Osterweil Oral Histories and Research Files / 4.2: Original Masters 36 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 4: Neil Osterweil Oral Histories and Research Files / 4.3: Researcher Copies (with time track) 36 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 4: Neil Osterweil Oral Histories and Research Files / 4.4: Researcher Copies 36 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 1: Personal Papers 20 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 2: Early Business Papers and Scientific Notes 20 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 4: Neil Osterweil Oral Histories and Research Files / 4.1: Research Files 19 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 5: Center for Advertising History, Oral History Interviews / 5.4: Abstracts and Transcripts 9 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 4: Neil Osterweil Oral Histories and Research Files / 4.5: Preservation Copies 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 4: Neil Osterweil Oral Histories and Research Files 5 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 5: Center for Advertising History, Oral History Interviews 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 5: Center for Advertising History, Oral History Interviews / 5.1: Original Masters 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 5: Center for Advertising History, Oral History Interviews / 5.2: Researcher Copies 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 5: Center for Advertising History, Oral History Interviews / 5.3: Preservation Copies 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Earl S. Tupper Papers / Series 2: Early Business Papers and Scientific Notes / Notes on Inventions 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Combs 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Inventions 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Inventors 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • CC0 271 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • No 252 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Yes 19 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • ead_component 271 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Myles Tupper

  • Ronald Tupper

  • Wise, Brownie

  • Abstracts and Transcripts

  • Tupperware Sparks

  • Thomas Damigella (successful early distributor, 1948)

  • Glenn, Mark and Myles Tupper, #3

  • Tupper, Glenn

  • Photographs for appraisal

  • Punk Farnsworth and Everett White

  • R. Parenter and G. Flagg, #2

  • Tupperware marketing, secondary materials

  • Diaries

  • "TupperwareMaterial of the Future," advertisement

  • Glenn, Mark and Myles Tupper

  • Fleckner, John

  • Glenn, Mark and Myles Tupper

  • Tupper family history, genealogy

  • #6 (Tupper family singing and playing musical instruments)

  • 1941 (established)

  • Town of Upton, Massachusetts, blueprint

  • Blackstone Mill, North Smithfield, Rhode Island

  • Lightbown

  • Sandy Farnsworth


  1. First page First
  2. Previous page Previous
  3. Page 1
  4. Current page 2
  5. Page 3
  6. Page 4
  7. Page 5
  8. Page 6
  9. Page 7
  10. Page 8
  11. Page 9
  12. Next page Next
  13. Last page Last

Discover More

arrow-up Back to top
Home
  • Facebook facebook
  • Instagram instagram
  • LinkedIn linkedin
  • YouTube youtube

  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Get Involved
  • Inspector General
  • Records Requests
  • Accessibility
  • EEO & Small Business
  • Shop Online
  • Host Your Event
  • Press Room
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use