In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first storage product for food, calling it Tupperware. Introduced in 1946, the product sold well for a decade but it wasn't a household name.
Enter Brownie Wise. She was a divorced mom with a marketing background who came up with the idea of Tupperware parties. These informal meet/greets skyrocketed sales in the late 1950s and soon Tupper hired Wise as the VP of Tupperware - her TV appearances and marketing savvy made her a household celebrity long before Martha Stewart.
In 1956, she recorded a special Christmas Greeting disc for the company and these were sent to sales associates across the country. The following year, Wise was at the peak of her popularity (much to the chagrin of Tupper). This 1957 disc has Brownie sharing some special thoughts of the holiday backed by Christmas music.
One month after this record was released, Tupper forced Wise out of her job. Every reference to her was removed from company literature. She owned no stock and left with a severance package of one year's salary, about $30,000. Overnight, Brownie was no longer a celebrity and after a new business venture failed, she retired to Florida where she remained until her death in 1992.
After facing backlash for getting rid of Wise, Tupper sold the company for $16 million (more than $160 million in 2023 dollars), divorced his wife, gave up his U.S. citizenship to avoid taxes, and bought an island in South America. What a guy!
Tupperware continued its success well into the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s using the model Ware had established. This disc is presented here as a tribute to her memory.
22 авг 2024
