Month

As the wife of a man who didn’t like it when I ventured far from home, Tupperware parties were my entire social life. Although I never hosted one, I could always be counted on by my neighbors to ooh and aah over a jade green colander, 8-cup mix-and-store pitcher or some other kitchen necessity, and to compliment the delicious snacks they served in their lovely homes.

The evenings were carefully scripted. First there was a warm greeting from the hostess. Then she would introduce a party coordinator from the Tupperware company who would tell us how Earl Tupper, after being inspired by the metal lids of paint cans, had introduced the world’s first airtight food storage bowl in 1949, a revolutionary invention which had made possible the wide variety of polyethylene plastic storage containers displayed in front of her.

She would end her monologue with a demonstration of the patented “burping seal” feature that made Tupperware superior to its competitors and well worth its higher cost. We would then each be given a bowl and asked to practice the proper technique for lifting one corner of the top to let out some air before pushing down in the center to achieve an airtight seal. Thus a room full of young mothers, all expert baby burpers, were taught how to expel excess gas from plastic containers.

I got to the point were I could repeat the instructions by heart.