Tupperware's still a keeper, going strong into the 21st century

In some ways, Tupperware parties occur as they always have: A consultant stands before a group of women, showing off the latest products and encouraging them to make their lives easier by having proper storage containers.

In other ways, the Tupperware party has kept up with the 21st-century Joneses.

If you prefer the anonymity of online shopping, you can attend a virtual Tupperware party at www.tupperware.com, where you enter your ZIP code to "meet" the consultants in your area, choose one, visit her home page and start Tupperizing.

You can buy Tupperware at Target, at a mall kiosk, or off eBay, which offers vintage Tupperware pieces in the retro orange, brown, pea green and yellow for a few dollars. (How collectible they are is debatable. Of the many items listed on eBay, most have no bids or just one or two.)

It's still mostly women who attend the parties -- and do the selling. In the Puget Sound region, there are probably no more than 30 men out of about 2,100 consultants who sell Tupperware. They range from stay-at-home dads to a laid-off Boeing employee.


		Karen Sykes / Special to the Post-Intelligencer
	"You want to make sure people have fun," says Tupperware consultant Dana Miller, holding a Tupperware colander as partygoers check their raffle tickets for free gifts. From left are Barbara Spear, Sunny Delaney, Patty Moriarty and Amy Arnold.

Dana Miller is a Tupperware consultant in her "spare" time. Her current pace is one party a month, which is not frequent by Tupperware standards. But it's a good start, considering Miller's day job as business manager for Pacific Market International, which makes, among other things, the ubiquitous insulated coffee mug.

Miller sells Tupperware because she's obsessed with organization and organizational tools: Her entire kitchen, from refrigerator to pantry, has been Tupperized. She wants to help others see the light -- sheer blue, kiwi, pink grapefruit and tangerine, that is. Those are the new colors to go along with new designs and more sizes.

Also, Tupperware (and other companies that sell cookware to baskets to candles through home parties) offers a flexible schedule that allows consultants to sell only as much as they need or want to.

My friend Rebecca Staffel hosted a party at her home recently because she loves home parties -- and the discounts and gifts awarded to hosts.

Staffel, who is a literary agent and the consummate entertainer, e-mailed invitations to many of her girlfriends, all of whom are professionals, and promised wine, snacks and Jell-O shots to those who would attend.

The refrain throughout the evening was "This is not your mother's Tupperware party."

Indeed, it wasn't, especially with Jell-O shots in three flavors -- peach and bourbon, watermelon and Midori, and pineapple juice and rum -- and exchanges among 20 women peppered with wit, sarcasm, cynicism and insinuation:

Miller: "This isn't your mother's Tupperware party."

Staffel: "Because there are strippers."

Miller: "And UPS guys."

(Not really, but it's nice to fantasize.)

Miller: "I'm Dana and I'm the Tupperware consultant. I'm not going to lecture. It's about seeing, trying, touching and tasting."

Staffel: "As all my parties are ..."

(Laughter.)

After a few Jell-O shots, chocolate Bundt cake and a glass of wine, the girls got a little more rowdy.

Miller, holding up a mini container: "This is a Smidget. It's good for salad dressing and it's good for ..."

Attendee No. 1: "Prozac!"

(Cheers and whooping.)

Attendee No. 2: "It's hard for me to get excited about plastic."

Attendee No. 3: "Have another drink. It'll be really easy to get excited about plastic."

You can have fun with Tupperware, or make fun of it, but the company has turned into a $1.1 billion international business that's listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Tupperware is available in more than 100 countries around the world through its kiosks and sales force of nearly 1 million consultants.


		Karen Sykes / Special to the Post-Intelligencer
	Danielle Bullock checks out Tupperware Rock 'N Serve, which allows food to go from freezer to microwave.

Debra Fisser is a franchise owner based in Bellevue. She oversees about 1,100 consultants in the Puget Sound region (about 20 of whom are men). Her franchise is eighth-largest in the United States in Tupperware sales and No. 1 in the region. She adds that there are probably an additional 1,000 consultants in Western Washington who don't report to her.

"That's a lot, but we could use a lot more," Fisser said. "We don't cover the area like we need to."

Fisser has been with Tupperware for 25 years, ever since she was 19 and trying to make a little money during college.

"People think of Tupperware as the old lady with rollers in her hair, but there's a huge mix. Our top manager is 29 years old and has a full-time job.

"I also think it's more than selling a plastic bowl. I went from a poor starving college student and now I'm the president of a multimillion-dollar company."

UNSEALING THE FACTS

There's a Tupperware party somewhere in the world every two seconds.
Tupperware was invented in 1946 by Earl Tupper, who made plastic gas masks during World War II before switching to storage containers.
The range of products includes everything from Smidgets, which are mini containers for pills or salad dressing, to food storage containers to knives and other kitchen tools.
Popular items: FridgeSmart containers, which have vents that you control and help keep produce fresh longer; Rock 'N Serve containers, which allow you to go from freezer directly to microwave; and SpongeBob emblazoned products for kids.
Cost: From $3 to $20 for single items up to around $165 for sets.

For more information: www.tupperware.com; 888-887-9273.

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