ARHU-American Studies

"Undermining the postware image of the housebound, passive and privatized suburban consumer, Tupperware enbodied consumption as a liberating and celbratory form."

This statement best summarizes Clarke's view of Tupperware. Several times she returns to the connection between private and public spheres, crediting Tupperware with being an "intrusion of the market into the sancity of domesticity."

Clarke also highlights the sorority environment as offering an "active form of nonradical feminism," in contrast to domestic subordination.

As to current day equivalents, I still think the Longaberger and Pampered Chef type parties offer the sorority aspect of the Tupperware parties. These parties are attended by mostly women and continue to offer a way for stay-at-home moms to work with a flexible schedule. But there are so many other possibilities (like at-work daycares) that also give freedom to work. (Did I just say freedom to work?)

I am trying to relate to the tupperware party and the first thing I thought of a poker game. I think playing poker is sort of the male equivalent in this time period. It has all the same social benefits of the tupperware party: good safe reason to get to know people you have not yet meant, there is a distraction if you end up not liking the new people, no real requirement for another get together. Money exchanges hands in a non-business manner, so it seems more sociable. Women's chit chat and whatever else they do together is replaced by sports talk, locker room antics, beer, and cigars. That is my version of a tupperware party.

*note* I use Gladware becuase my roommates mom sends it for free

I agree with Sean that a poker game is a male's form of a tupperware party. While nothing is being sold, money does exchange hands.

My friend does stamping parties. We get together and she lets us use her stamps to see what wonderful, creative cards we can make. It is a way for women to socialize but in the end, spend money. You feel guilty not buying anything. I think it says something about surburban culture that some women budgeted tupperware parties into their household expenses. It was part of life. It was a way for women to make money and become somewhat financially "free." While this allowed them to individualize themselves they also fell prey to the stereotypes of the typical housewife. Those who sold the goods were soliciting other women to be good housewives and play the part of the wonderful women who stands behind her family by cooking meals and saving the leftovers to create a new, delicious meal. This is rare today and often met with shock.

I think amway and mary kay are perfect examples of a current tupperware type party. In both cases you are selling things to your neighbors and using your friendship as a pretext to your sales pitch.
Tupperware allowed some to negotiate post ww2 life by allowing women a chance to work as something other than a secretary, teacher, or nurse. I also gave women a chance to socialize because unlike today there probably werent womens night out where just the girls would go out. This party was a just the girls thing.
Current tupperware parties are few and far between so i tend to see this as an indicator that gender politics has been scaled back from where they were in the 50s.

I do agree with Sean about the poker game analogy. There still are tuperware parties and I think it is not so much about buying and selling tuperware as it is for gossip and conversation. My grandmother goes to tuperware parties often and buys one piece just because she would feel guilty leaving empty handed. She goes to spend time with women her age in a social enviroment. I think the tuperware parties in the beginning were a great way for women to get together in a pseudo business enviroment.

Sean has made a near perfect analogy (poker) to the tupperare parties of yesteryear (and appenrently still some today). I would add that along with the money exchange in a non-business setting, there is also an element of the poker game providing a venue for men (and women also, males don't have the monopoly on poker night) to talk and even gossip (about anything, not just sports, although most commom), where otherwise their masculinity might be called into question. A lot of Men are weird that way, and this kind of social situation is optimal for conversation that might otherwise not take place to occur.

I think the main difference between womens' tupperware party and mens' poker games is that men historically have had many outlets through which to bond. Before, during, and after the popularity of the tupperware party came and went men could gather after work at a downtown bar, meet at a friends house and watch the game/fight, or play on a softball team. Poker is just an addition to this list. Women, on the other hand, have not had such social outlets. The tupperware party was one of very few ways a woman could socialize and conduct business outside of the home and outside of their husbands sphere of influence. These parties gave them a way to get out of the kitchen and away from their children for a little while, a freedom their husbands knew quite well.

I find the social impact/stigma of tupperware parties similar to that of following other domestic advice. This seems a bit like a fad. Now, as others have mentioned, this concept now manifests itself in other "parties" like Pampered Chef, MaryKay, Creative Memories, et cetera.
I can understand how women could enjoy this feeling of responsibility and productivity after WWII demanded more of them while the men were away at war. I do not think that Tupperware parties and such embody feminism at all. The only touch of feminism I see coming from this is women bonding together. But, since these "parties" include women profiting from one another, presumbably with money from their husbands, and there being a level of competition among the women of who has the better party, tupperware, house decor, et cetera, I do not find this a particularly positive trend for women and feminism.

The Tupperware, Creative memories, stamping and Mary Kay. To me, these are the equivalent of the male-associated business conventions. Just in a smaller scale. Remember being a housewife and a good mother or even father is a full time job. I think the tupperware parties were a way for the women to get together to discuss not only just the kids , but also to assimilate into the new neighborhoods. This was a way of finding out other peoples interest and dislikes.
When my father was away in Vietnam the mothers on the base would get together and hold different parties. This allowed them to keep their mind off the reality of the war.
Today some of these parties are held by couples who are also forming status cliques in their neighborhoods.
When going to church was a ritual, the need for other gatherings was realy not needed. As the working families evolved and church became a casual thing to attend only on holidays and special events, the common greeting place disappeared.

Instead of spending all day at home doing household duties, women had the luxury of interacting with each other through Tupperware parties. These parties gave them the “opportunity to socialize outside the home at little expense”. Women went from being the stereotypical housewife to a sociable business savvy woman who can support herself and the household. They became more active socially and professionally, engaging in a large network of social relations through the Tupperware business. These social gatherings helped boost their confidence and self-worth, which surpassed society’s expectations. They were able to establish themselves in society and prove to men that they can do far more than cooking and cleaning.

I want to play the devil's advocate in a way. Yes, women were allowed to make money and be financially free. They were able to conduct business and enter into "work."
However, they also did so by exploiting the housewife. They used organization and food preservation, something all housewives need to know, in order to bring women together to buy goods. The people selling the goods were using their skills as an entertainer and hostess, something all housewives should know, in order to sell goods to her friends.
In my opinion, you don't ask your friends to come to a party where you expect them to buy things and when everyone coming to your party is a friend or neighbor, you are using your hospitality to take their money.
This is sneaky business practice if you ask me.

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