Earl S. TupperDied 5 Oct 1983 at age 76 (born 28 Jul 1907).Earl Silas Tupper was an American inventor and manufacturer who introduced Tupperware. In the 1930's, Tupper inventeda flexible, lightweight material that was used to make plastic gas masks during World War II. From working at DuPont (1937-38), he gained experience in plastics design and struck out on his own. In the '40s, plastic products had a reputation for being brittle, greasy, smelly and generally unreliable. Tupper's contributions were twofold. First, he developed a method for purifying black polyethylene slag, a waste product produced in oil refinement, into a substance that was flexible, tough, non-porous, non-greasy and translucent. Second, he developed the Tupper seal, an airtight, watertight lid modeled on the lid for paint containers. Together, these innovations laid the foundations for the future success of Tupperware as a consumer product. His company had great success by marketing through Brownie Wise's idea of Tupperware parties. |
