This is about the origins of Tupperware in Massachusetts.This is about the origins of Tupperware in Massachusetts.This is about the origins of Tupperware in Massachusetts.
Photos
Kathy Bates
- Narrator
- (voice)
Will Le Bow
- Earl Tupper
- (voice)
Karen MacDonald
- Brownie Wise
- (voice)
Brownie Wise
- Self
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Featured review
Tupperware! episode just wasn't for me (written by an American Experience fan)
Despite the interesting twist concerning that poor woman Brownie they propped up and then dumped, this was the one & only episode I have ever seen of this beloved series that I was not in love with.
Maybe it was more aimed toward women, or toward history buffs more interested in recent business accomplishments than I am - as opposed to earlier historic business accomplishments (railroads, whaling, hard labor stuff).
American Experience has always impressed me in its ability to dive deep down enough to make you feel smart, insofar as it goes deeper than an equivalent documentary on, say, The History Channel. Thus you'll know more about a subject in an hour of American Experience than a Discovery Channel show on the same topic. Same concept applies, but in this instance, as a guy, I felt like... "I don't think I care about this" Sorry. This was how I felt.
This series is utterly phenomenal. It can create interest in a subject for you from absolutely nowhere. I experienced this after seeing The Donner Party, and Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World - now I can't get enough about survival at sea, westward expansion stories, and even anthropology. But Tupperware? Yeah I just don't care. I don't care about the business part either. I feel bad for Brownie, but I don't think they needed an entire hour to teach me about a business empire that was created around plastic tubs for my sandwich. Perhaps the point was too nuanced. It's not the first time I was frustrated in American Experience's reluctance to put too fine a point on something. In terms of empowering women, they did a much better job with Amelia Earhart's episode, though they could have done better with the theories surrounding her disappearance. Unbeknownst to most people, the "crash & sink theory" has never been that popular with people that knew about the post-crash radio transmissions that went on for days after she disappeared.
If Tupperware parties and the whole business in general was built on Brownie's shoulders, then she should have flipped out every time something was going wrong and insist that they pay her more, rather than compensate her less and then dump her. Maybe I am being reductive. Either way I had trouble relating to each and every part of it.
I have said several times on here and elsewhere that it is the best documentary series of all time. I chalk my disinterest in the Tupperware episode to the fact that I didn't find Brownie's story that compelling, and my sex plays a role in this too. But I watched the whole hour. If it were any other show, and the show was going to be called "Tupperware!", there is no way in hell I would have watched. I did watch.
This one though...
Not one for my collection.
Sorry American Experience, this brings your score from a 100% A+ scores to a 99.999999%, which, when I apply my scale, still leaves you with a 100% perfect track record and an A+ from me :)
Maybe it was more aimed toward women, or toward history buffs more interested in recent business accomplishments than I am - as opposed to earlier historic business accomplishments (railroads, whaling, hard labor stuff).
American Experience has always impressed me in its ability to dive deep down enough to make you feel smart, insofar as it goes deeper than an equivalent documentary on, say, The History Channel. Thus you'll know more about a subject in an hour of American Experience than a Discovery Channel show on the same topic. Same concept applies, but in this instance, as a guy, I felt like... "I don't think I care about this" Sorry. This was how I felt.
This series is utterly phenomenal. It can create interest in a subject for you from absolutely nowhere. I experienced this after seeing The Donner Party, and Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World - now I can't get enough about survival at sea, westward expansion stories, and even anthropology. But Tupperware? Yeah I just don't care. I don't care about the business part either. I feel bad for Brownie, but I don't think they needed an entire hour to teach me about a business empire that was created around plastic tubs for my sandwich. Perhaps the point was too nuanced. It's not the first time I was frustrated in American Experience's reluctance to put too fine a point on something. In terms of empowering women, they did a much better job with Amelia Earhart's episode, though they could have done better with the theories surrounding her disappearance. Unbeknownst to most people, the "crash & sink theory" has never been that popular with people that knew about the post-crash radio transmissions that went on for days after she disappeared.
If Tupperware parties and the whole business in general was built on Brownie's shoulders, then she should have flipped out every time something was going wrong and insist that they pay her more, rather than compensate her less and then dump her. Maybe I am being reductive. Either way I had trouble relating to each and every part of it.
I have said several times on here and elsewhere that it is the best documentary series of all time. I chalk my disinterest in the Tupperware episode to the fact that I didn't find Brownie's story that compelling, and my sex plays a role in this too. But I watched the whole hour. If it were any other show, and the show was going to be called "Tupperware!", there is no way in hell I would have watched. I did watch.
This one though...
Not one for my collection.
Sorry American Experience, this brings your score from a 100% A+ scores to a 99.999999%, which, when I apply my scale, still leaves you with a 100% perfect track record and an A+ from me :)
helpful•02
- idida720
- Jun 14, 2012
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
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- Filming locations
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 3 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
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