First Woman on Cover of Business Week

Brownie Wise made her name using home parties to sell Tupperware. She was not the inventor of the home party sales method, but she was a master at it. This earned her a cover story in Business Week in 1954.

Earl Tupper Created Tupperware

Earl Tupper (1907-1983) was the genius behind the containers. But the product might have languished if he had not met Brownie Wise. Plastic was not yet used regularly in the home, so people weren’t accustomed to buying plastic for food storage.

Tupper ran a landscape business until the 1930s, when there was little work to be had. He took a job at Dow Chemical. One of his supervisors gave him permission to take some the polyethylene slag home with him. It was a waste product from what DuPont was making at the time. Tupper was a tinkerer and began experimenting with how to purify the slag and reuse it. He found a way to create non-breakable containers. With World War II on the horizon, he also found a way create lightweight gas masks.

Later on, he came up later designed liquid-proof, airtight lids. The lids became well-known in their own right because of marketing: The “burping seal” locked in freshness. He called the company, Tupperware.

Tupperware was useful and innovative, but people were skeptical of plastic. Homemakers stayed with the tried-and-true methods of storing food in glass or metal containers. While some metal containers snapped tightly, most glass containers that had lids were a loose fit.

Brownie Wise (1913-1992) telephoned Earl Tupper to explain her ideas for selling his product. He made her a vice president of the company. She brought with her a direct sales method that led to skyrocketing company sales and domination of the food storage market.

About Brownie Wise

Brownie Humphrey was born in a small town in rural Georgia (Buford). Brownie’s parents divorced when she was young. Brownie remained with her mother who was a hat maker. But when her mother, Rosabelle Humphrey, became intent on organizing a union for hat makers, she had to travel. This left   Brownie in the care her aunt who made a living as a dressmaker. Clearly, Brownie saw independent women from a very early age.

In her early twenties, Brownie won an art contest. The person who won was invited to pain a mural at the Texas Centennial being celebrated in Dallas. While in Dallas, she met a young man named Robert Wise. Later that year, Brownie and Robert married. They moved to Detroit where Robert Wise became a machinist. Brownie gave birth to their only son. Within three years, the couple divorced leaving Brownie to raise their son on her own.

On Her Own

To support herself and her son, Brownie Wise took various jobs including ones at an ad agency and a millinery shop.  She still needed extra cash so Brownie became a sales representative for Stanley Home Products.  The company sold cleaning supplies, kitchen necessities, and mops and brushes via home parties that could be scheduled around her other work commitments.  This was where Wise learned the “home party sales” system.

The home party sales technique was pioneered by Norman W. Squires (1908-2006). Squires worked for Aluminum Cooking Utensil Company of America, and then was hired by Stanley Home Products. At Stanley Home Products, Squires was given free rein on how to sell the products, and he first introduced the home-party method there. (He was eventually hired by Earl Tupper and started a Hostess party division but did not stay with the company for long.)

Home Party Selling

Brownie Wise excelled at selling Stanley Home Products. As she gained experience, she and a few other reps began adding Tupperware products to their home party system.  By explaining to women the benefits of plastic and demonstrating how to “burp” the lid to get an airtight seal, Brownie Wise soon saw that Tupperware sales could really move if sold at home.

Her sales results caught the attention of Earl Tupper who soon recruited her to run his marketing program and be vice president of the company.  Tupper and Wise removed Tupperware from store shelves and switched it to be sold exclusively on the home party plan.

The Carrot Experiment

As Wise devised her methods, she developed a unique way to open new neighborhoods. Tupperware representatives were asked to go door to door to ask housewives to run a “carrot experiment.” The woman of the house was given a new Tupperware container with a few fresh carrots inside. She was also given a few more carrots to store using whatever method she would normally use for food in her refrigerator. Several days later, the representative would return to the house so she and the woman could compare the freshness together. Most of time, Tupperware hey gained a new recruit to work as a Tupperware party-giver. At the very least, the company generally gained a satisfied customer.

Wise also developed what she called Tupperware’s Jubilee, a four-day sales meeting that included motivational speeches, entertainment, and new product introductions.  Wise incentivized her sales force by offering extraordinary gifts such appliances, trips, and even a speedboat or two.

Extraordinary Growth Led to Cover Story

In 1951 Wise had about 200 women selling Tupperware; by 1954 the sales force had grown to over 9000.  This extraordinary growth led to her begin featured on the cover of Business Week magazine.

For several years, Wise was the face of the company; Earl Tupper preferred to avoid the limelight, but in late 1957 there was a power struggle and the board of directors forced her out.  Wise sued but settled out of court for about $30,000.  A few years later, Tupper sold the company for $16 million.

Wise went on to start several cosmetic companies employing direct sales, and later she invested in real estate but nothing ever brought the success that she achieved with Tupperware.

Today Tupperware is still marketed using the method begun by Brownie Wise with almost 2 million consultants worldwide.

To read another story about an amazing businesswoman, Ida Rosenthal Who Pioneered the Bra Industry with Maidenform.

Share with Others!