Moniek Bucquoye

In 1942, driven by natural curiosity and a shortage of industrial materials during the war years, Earl Silas Tupper, an American dreamer and amateur inventor, produced his first injection-molded plastic cup, the Bell Tumbler, which was followed soon after by his stackable plastic Wonderlier Bowl--neither of which found much success in the American marketplace. In 1949, inspired by the lid of a humble paint can, Tupper introduced the Tupper seal, a flexible, "burpable" lid for his bowls. It was that innovation, coupled with Tupper's pragmatic 1950s aesthetic and the extraordinary vision of one Brownie Wise, a 40-year-old housewife (and later the Vice President of the company) who convinced Tupper to distribute his products exclusively through home parties, that made Tupperware one of the most iconic, collectible and beloved industrial products of all time, both in America and overseas. Tupperware: Transparent is the complete catalogue raisonne of 45 years of Tupperware in America and Europe. Featuring more than 900 photographs--from vintage advertisements, to product shots, to candid photographs from early Tupperware parties--it also includes chapters on the history of the company, product design, Tupperware as museum object, the Tupperware Party and more. Perhaps most important of all, this jam-packed, extremely engaging publication actually comes in a custom Tupperware container produced exclusively for the book.… (meer)