Brownie Mae Humphrey (May 25, 1913 – September 24, 1992) professionally Brownie Wise, was a pioneering American saleswoman largely responsible for the success of the home products company
Tupperware
Tupperware is an American home products line that includes preparation, storage, and serving products for the kitchen and home. In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first bell-shaped container; the brand products were introduced to the public in 1 ...
, through her development of the "
party plan
The party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting what is presented as a social event at which products will be offered for sale. It is a form of direct selling. The primary system for generating sales leads for home party plan sales i ...
" system of marketing.
Career
A former sales representative for Stanley Home Products, Wise was a divorcee with a son to support. She found Tupperware to be a product with broad appeal and began selling it at home parties. In 1950 she moved to Florida and created a social networking marketing system through dealers and sellers that quickly outsold Tupperware's store sales.
This caught the attention of
Earl Tupper
Earl Silas Tupper (July 28, 1907 – October 3, 1983) was an American businessman and inventor, best known as the inventor of Tupperware, an airtight plastic container for storing food, and for founding the related home products company that bear ...
, Tupperware's inventor, who invited her to be vice president of Tupperware Home Parties in 1951. She insisted that he market his products exclusively through
party plan
The party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting what is presented as a social event at which products will be offered for sale. It is a form of direct selling. The primary system for generating sales leads for home party plan sales i ...
s, where women invited friends and neighbors to a combination social event and sales presentation. Wise ran the sales division, Tupperware Home Parties, Inc, from
Kissimmee, Florida
Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...
and had the freedom to implement her marketing strategies. Her methods were extremely successful. Her ability to tap into popular culture and the desire for happiness helped recruit thousands of women into a career at a time when a woman's role was conventionally tied to the home. Her TV appearances, magazine and newspaper articles made her a household name. In 1954 she became the first woman to appear on the cover of ''
Business Week
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
''.
Wise invented much of the corporate culture of Tupperware and, by extension, other party-plan marketing organizations. She was especially keen on incentives, one of the chief ones being trips to Florida to the annual "Jubilee" at the company's sales headquarters for motivational meetings and socializing with other successful representatives. Top sellers would be presented with exotic gifts such as speedboats, trips and appliances carefully planned in the company of their husbands. She created idioms and rituals such as pilgrimage to a specially designed well in the Tupperware grounds for sellers to cast their wishes, "Brownie Wings" and costumed graduation ceremonies. Dealers would go on treasure hunts where prizes would be buried in the ground. Extravagant shows, parties and motivational talks made up the four-day convention.
Wise was presented to the company's representatives as something of an idealized 1950s woman. She was skilled in leveraging the social networking model and motivating thousands of women to come together in their homes to sell Tupperware. Her own relationship with Earl Tupper was volatile, and their differences became irreconcilable after Wise's success turned her into a celebrity. In January 1958 Tupper forced Wise out. Soon afterward, every reference to her was removed from company literature. She owned no stock and left with a severance package of one year's salary, about $30,000.
Wise attempted to form her own party-plan cosmetics company, ''Cinderella'', but was unsuccessful. She died in 1992 in Florida, where she lived and owned land near
Lake Tohopekaliga
Lake Tohopekaliga, Tohopeka (from tohopke meaning fence, fort); Tohopekaliga (from tohopke meaning fence, fort + likv meaning site), also referred to as Lake Toho, West Lake, or simply Toho, is the
largest lake in Osceola County, Flori ...
.
In popular culture
Wise was to be portrayed by
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Sandra Bullock, various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was ...
in a movie based on the book ''Tupperware Unsealed'', written by Bob Kealing.
In 2016, the
Tupperware
Tupperware is an American home products line that includes preparation, storage, and serving products for the kitchen and home. In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first bell-shaped container; the brand products were introduced to the public in 1 ...
company donated $200,000 to Florida's Osceola County to establish a conservation area and a "Brownie Wise Park" on an island in Lake Tohopekaliga.
Bibliography
*''Best wishes, Brownie Wise'' (1957)
Tupperware! on PBS American ExperiencePBS American Experience: Biography of Brownie WiseTupperware: An Open Container During a Decade of Containment, Alyssa Velazquez, Women's History Magazine, March 2014, Issue 74, p19-26*
References
External links
The American Storyteller Radio Journal – Hear an online story about Brownie WisePBS' American Experience
Don Wildman and The Mysteries at the Museum – Blast from the Past Season 0, Episode 39. How Brownie Wise made Tupperware the life of the party.*
Guide to the Brownie Wise Papers Archives Center, National Museum of American History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Brownie
1913 births
1992 deaths
American businesspeople in retailing
People from Buford, Georgia
People from Kissimmee, Florida
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American businesswomen
People associated with direct selling