TUPPERWARE: Retro, Colorful, Indispensible, Collectible

Tough
Useful

Pitchers

Perfect

Easy care

Refrigerate

Wide selection

Avacado

Retro

Everyone loves Tupperware

I’ve been a Tupperware fan since Mom hosted
a Tupperware party in our home in 1959 or

so when I would have been five.

The whole thing was positively festive. First,
folding chairs showed up at our house along
with a couple of card tables and a longer, ban-
quet type table. Mom was making something
called “onion dip” which as far as I can recall,
is the very first time I had ever heard of or
tasted any. (And it was love at first bite.)

Then, THE TUPPERWARE LADY arrived bearing tons
of the stuff. She draped cloths over the tables
and started arranging her displays, chatting
away as she showed my mom new items and produced
gift wrapped door prizes. The thing I noticed
most during the first several minutes of the
Tupperware Lady’s presence was that as far as
she was concerned, I was invisible. To her,
Mom’s Tupperware party was serious business.
It wasn’t like the laid back home parties we
have today. This was the era of hats and gloves
and heels; aprons, dainty handkerchiefs, and

starched cotton dresses.

My dad and little brother had taken off for parts
unknown and would not return until the party was
over. As the first guests arrived, the smiling
hyena of a Tupperware Lady suggested Mom send me
to my bedroom. Mom colored like she’d committed
a terrible faux pas by having me there at all.
She walked me to my bedroom, apologizing and
closing the door.

I was fit to be tied. I wanted some onion dip
and punch. I wanted a door prize. I wanted to
be part of the fun. And that prim and proper
party pooper had ruined it all.

In defense of children everywhere, I did make
a couple of unexpected appearances. Each time
Mom escorted me patiently back to my room. The
thing was, though she never said a word about
it afterwards, I knew Mom was pissed, pissed
at the Tupperware lady and pissed at herself
for allowing the woman to intimidate her.

Nevertheless, our home was now well stocked

with Tupperware and the pastel tumblers and

bowls were positively fairy-tale inspired.

When I married, I had a few nice sets of

Tupperware. Unfortunately, I had a husband

who also fancied them. One by one, they

began to disappear.

The first one he used to feed the dog in.

The dog ate the food and then the bowl. The

second was, according to him, "Perfect for

the rabbits." There were also great pieces

for him to carry leftovers for lunch, but

there was never anything leftover for him

to carry home including the Tupperware

container itself! His excuse was he'd

"forgotten it". Countless pieces were

lost this way.

My sister, Pam, on the other hand, has every

piece of Tupperware she's ever owned starting

from the day she married in 1985. INCLUDING
THE LIDS!

Tupperware pitchers, which are my preferred

"vessels" (as my Grandma used to call anything

that held anything else) for Sweet Tea, a beverage

native to the south that ranks right up there with

water. Not only do I use my Tupperware pitchers

for beverages, they're perfect to carry things

like tossed salad, fruit salad, homemade cookies,

even "loose" pre-cooked casseroles like spaghetti,

stews, soups, you name it, if you're in a pinch

and all your other Tupperware is spoken for.

When we go on vacation, I always take a few of

my own spices and these I pack into my two trusty

Tupperware pitchers along with a couple of my

favorite knives, ziplock bags, Kool Ade packets

etc. The jumbo-sized squares served as indoor

playground equipment for our twin grandsons when

they were toddlers. The giant bowls have held

everything from trick or treat candy to melting

ice and snow after an ice storm did damage to our

roof and we had half a dozen leaks. Tupperware

has floated in both our bathtub and pool, has been

a part of dozens of holiday celebrations and birth-

day parties and has carried food to the sick and

to the bereaved.

Tupperware IS versatile, that's for sure. And

when cared for, it should last for decades,

unless you have a husband like mine, that is!