Jewish World Review March 12, 2004 / 19 Adar, 5764
Lori Borgman
Women don't burp and buy like they used to
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com |
As if the war on terror and the Axis of Evil aren't enough to put
bags under your eyes, we now learn that Tupperware parties are waning for
the second consecutive year. Makes you want to hug your lettuce keeper and
never let go.
For my mother's generation, Tupperware parties were a major social
event. Ladies slipped into nylons and heels, pulled on a shirt-waist dress
and headed for a night out. Women were enthralled by the promise of plastic
- air-tight bread keepers, sleek juice pitchers and stacking measuring cups.
But it was more than the lure of plastic. It was the chance to get
out of the house, catch up on the news, and nibble on a cracker spread
with pimento cheese. Tupperware parties were the natural evolution of
quilting bees, taffy pulls and sewing circles.
For years, you could tell when a woman was married by the oldest
piece of Tupperware housed in her cupboard.
If she had a batter bowl and cake taker that were a semi-clear
plastic beginning to turn a sticky, dirty shade of gray, she was a bride of
the '50s.
A woman with pastel cereal bowls in green, blue, pink and yellow
was feted with bridal showers in the '60s.
A woman with flour and sugar canisters in yellow, rust or nutmeg
brown was likely wed in the late '70s.
Tupperware proved indestructible. Once pieces had done duty in the
kitchen, they were often retired to the backyard, where they lived second
lives as bulldozers in sandboxes, scoops in dirt piles, or strainers for
bugs floating in backyard pools.
Nearly every kid in the '60s made homemade ice pops courtesy of
the little Tupperware forms. If you were lucky enough to squeeze the ice
pop out from its plastic sheath in one piece, it invariably broke before
you were able to finish licking it off the wobbly plastic stick. That
summer ritual of frozen grape juice running down your arm has never been
duplicated by the likes of Ben and Jerry.
As we began edging toward the new millenium, Tupperware parties
competed with increasingly crowded calendars. Women received invitations,
complained about being too busy, moaned about the obligatory games, and
said the last thing they had time to do was watch some woman burp plastic
for the freshness seal.
Yet those same women often rushed through dinner, scrambled to get
the kids set for the night, slapped on a fresh coat of face paint and
arrived promptly at 7.
They came, they burped, they bought.
At one of the last Tupperware parties I dragged myself to, the
crowd numbered three. There was the hostess, her sister and me - which
meant I had a 50/50 chance of winning the door prize. Despite the small
numbers, the hostess sold nearly 500 dollars worth of plastic. Most women
were foregoing parties, instead placing orders at the office, the gym or
while waiting in the carpool line.
More time passed, hostesses became sales consultants and the
company expanded into cookware. Corporate headquarters even partnered with
a major retailer to reach more direct-sale customers strolling through the
aisles.
Today, your chances of attending a home Tupperware party may have
decreased, but you can still buy the plastic. You can buy on-line, sitting
alone in front of your computer. You can buy at a lonely kiosk in the
center of the mall. You can buy Tupperware with small children hanging on
your legs, your lipstick worn off hours ago and not a single tidbit of
neighborhood news.
Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Lori Borgman is the author of , most recently, "Pass the Faith, Please" (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) and I Was a Better Mother Before I Had Kids To comment, please click here. To visit her website click here.
03/05/04: Sometimes wishes do come true, even for grown-ups
02/27/04: Family there to give Mom the business
02/06/04: Chance for big money slips through her fingers
01/30/04: Profanity brings out the f-word (fury)
01/23/04: Lots of labels in this union
01/16/04: Cheap eats in college? Use your noodle
01/02/04: 2003 boasted a cast of colorful characters
12/19/03: Hours at the stove, moments at the table
12/12/03: The way they dress, "boxers or briefs?" isn't a question
12/05/03: Hey, hey, we're the monkeys (or close enough)
11/26/03: Hardship? We don't know the meaning
11/21/03: Good kids! Wonder who raised them
11/14/03: Safety first, even when danger has passed
10/24/03: NFL fan learns to handle heightened sensations
10/03/03: Chipping away at misunderstood lists
09/26/03: Boundaries disappear, society pays the price
09/19/03: Easy (bike) rider
09/12/03: Got Mom?
09/05/03: S'Mores Maker threatens all we hold dear (and gooey)
07/25/03: Private journals, public records
07/25/03: Star appears bright-eyed, bushy-tailed
07/18/03: Girls pool talents for commercial success
07/11/03: Summer; the living is easy
07/03/03: Terrible twos make terrific workout
06/27/03: Emergency a matter of definition
06/13/03: A Father's Day roast for Mother Goose
06/05/03: Good examples of bad parenting
05/23/03: Faulty equations on the love calculator
05/16/03: Busted for Oreos!
05/09/03: Mom plus shipping equals excitement
05/02/03: Mom shudders at thought of the m-a-l-l
04/21/03: Mother Confessions
04/11/03: Husband snoring: Hit or mist
04/04/03: Flip flops hashed at the lunch table
03/28/03: Bare facts on protesters
03/21/03: Madonna: Like an Author
03/17/03: Mom develops rapport with son's answering machine
03/07/03: The call for courage
02/28/03: My relationship with Mister Rogers
01/31/03: Mom pushes memories out the door
01/24/03: Picture this! Human 'beans'
01/10/03: Password, please!
12/31/02: Who it was a good year for
12/06/02: Radio show guarantees family-size audience
12/02/02: High-seas adventure would enlist few takers today
11/15/02: Frozen turkey makes cook chicken out
11/15/02: What's going on with "going out?"
11/01/02: The crazy mind of middle-age
10/25/02: Relationship rooted in willow talk
10/18/02: The challenge of being spontaneous
10/11/02: No wheels, no keys, no problem?
10/04/02: Lessons of a childhood survivor --- my children's
09/20/02: "Cutting the Cord" to the Tube
09/13/02: Over there
08/30/02: The Last One Left
08/23/02: Rare sighting made on the patio
08/16/02: Kids get reality paycheck
08/08/02: We look like this . . . no, Kidman!
08/02/02: We should be a nation of 'nuts'!
07/26/02: Hold your applause --- please!
07/19/02: Greed and Mints on the Pillows
07/12/02: Remodeling: Blueprint for Disaster
07/08/02: The Botox wrinkle
06/28/02: One perfect day
06/21/02: Flush with excitement
06/14/02: The Ways a Father Says "I Love You"
06/07/02: Garage Sale Treasures
05/31/02: No Pudgy Hour at the gym
05/19/02: Ozzy, if you come for dinner, bring change
05/19/02: Instant Messaging and LOL
05/10/02: Some mothers get something more
05/03/02: I Nudge, Therefore I Am
04/25/02: Motherhood is seasonal work
04/19/02: Paper trail to college
04/12/02: What to cook or not to cook
03/31/02: Mom and Dad Break Curfew
03/22/02: Introducing P.P.M. (Partners Per Month)
03/15/02: Birth of a Pothole
03/08/02: When Enron Momma gets mad
03/01/02: Little hope for bookaholic
02/22/02: Wrestling with prejudice
02/15/02: Say What?
02/08/02: Kitchen intelligence
02/01/02: Age-old words
01/25/02: Abortion: Switching Sides
01/18/02: Kids, take note
01/11/02: The heart-stopper e-mail
01/04/02: The slightly sunny side of 2001
12/28/01: The Way Things Work
11/30/01: The Leftover Shuffle begins
11/27/01: Glasses bring age into focus
11/16/01: A different portion of Thanks
11/09/01: The Next Stage of Parenting
11/01/01: Of boys and patriotism
10/26/01: College Son the Invisible Man
10/19/01: Out of the closet ... and into the school
10/12/01: A Parent's Guide to Dating
10/05/01: "Taking Care of You"
09/28/01: Time indivisible
09/24/01: Refueling capitalism
09/14/01: A time to mourn
09/07/01: Lack of modesty stirs the troops
08/31/01: Scholarship search an education
08/24/01: The test for parents
08/17/01: Immodest proposals
08/10/01: Trying to R-r-r-re-re-relax
08/03/01: It may be shabby and chic, but it ain't cheap
07/20/01: Bride showered with sage advice
07/13/01: Baby Bear Finds Driving "Just Right"
07/06/01: Pale at the Thought of Bronze
06/29/01: A Dog's Best Friend
06/22/01: Rethinking fatherhood
06/14/01 Don't forget to lock the door
06/07/01 How grandma punishes her kids
06/01/01 Hearing voices
05/25/01 Cyborgs for Better or Worse
05/18/01 The death of Common Sense
© 2001, Lori Borgman
|