Everyone knows that a good party can’t last forever, and such is the case for Tupperware, the iconic food storage brand, whose leadership announced on Wednesday that the company had voluntarily initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Laurie Ann Goldman, the company’s president and CEO, assured customers in a statement that they would continue producing “the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” but noted Tupperware had been “severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment.”

“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward. This process is meant to provide us with essential flexibility as we pursue strategic alternatives to support our transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company better positioned to serve our stakeholders,” added Goldman.

Regardless of how exactly the company moves forward, this development seems to officially mark the end of an era for Tupperware, and for America at-large — one in which tightly-sealed plastic containers offered pastel skirt-clad housewives an opportunity for entrepreneurship within their post-war suburban households. Tupperware parties, which flourished in the 1950s and ‘60s, were an ingenious blend of social gathering and sales pitch, a precursor to modern direct-selling and multi-level marketing strategies. There, women would gather at the seller’s house for an afternoon of snacks, conversation and a demonstration of the brand’s newest plastic containers.

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In the ensuing decades, the allure of the Tupperware party dimmed as cultural shifts transformed both the workforce and the marketplace. More women began working outside the home and kitchen, while at the same time, big-box stores and supermarkets with increasingly expansive selections of homeware offered more efficient ways to buy household goods (it’s also worth noting the brand didn’t begin selling in Target until 2022). Then, the internet came and with it, the advent of online shopping.........

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