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Tupperware, Disney and the Selling of the Public Space
Commercial Alert October 5, 1999
Following is a Focus on the Corporation column from Russell Mokhiber and
Robert Weissman:
Tupperware, Disney and the Selling of the Public Space
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Yesterday, the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History held
a
press briefing to launch the publication of a new book, "Tupperware: The
Promise of Plastic in 1950s America," by Alison J. Clarke (Smithsonian
Press, 1999).
In the book, Clarke tells the story of Earl Tupper and Brownie Wise.
Tupper, the conservative New Englander who worked for DuPont, created
Tupperware in 1942. Tupper believed that Tupperware would improve
women's
lives -- no more spills or odors in the refrigerator, no more wasted
leftovers.
But for years, Americans were not impressed with plastics or Earl
Tupper's
food containers. Tupperware sat on store shelves.
Enter Brownie Wise. Wise, a middle-aged housewife and impoverished
single
mom, sold Tupperware door-to-door. Tupper was amazed by her numbers.
Tupper wanted to know her secret. Wise confessed: the Tupperware home
party.
Tupper pulled his entire product line from all department stores and
retail outlets. In 1951, the Tupperware party became the company's
exclusive form of distribution and sales. By the mid-1950s, the
Tupperware
party became a regular occurrence throughout America and sales boomed.
Friction grew between the reclusive Tupper and the flamboyant Wise. He
fired her in the late 1950s, but the corporation continued to flourish.
Today, a Tupperware party is held every 2.5 seconds, sales top $1.2
billion worldwide, and Tupperware has become a cultural symbol for the
American way of life.
"Astounding," is the way the Smithsonian public relations people put it.
Perhaps. But nowhere in the book, and nowhere in the press materials
handed out by the Smithsonian, is there any mention of the controversy
raging over the impact of the plastics industry on our health and on the
earth.
The book covers "the promise of plastic in 1950s America." But what
about
the consequences? Why no questions about the workers in the industry,
and
people who live near plastics manufacturing facilities, and the threat
to
their health and well being? Why no questions about the 30 percent (by
volume) of municipal landfills that are filled with plastics and the
impact this has on the environment?
A large percentage of Americans believe that plastics are harmful to
health and the environment. But the Smithsonian never addresses the
issue.
Why? And why is the Smithsonian publishing a book that asks so few
critical questions about the company?
In December 1984, The Tupper Foundation -- the foundation started by
Earl
-- gave $4 million to the Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute in
Panama.
Earl Tupper's papers were donated to the Smithsonian's Museum of
American
history -- papers that Clarke relied on to research her book. In May
1993,
the Tupper Foundation also gave $200,000 to the archives collection at
the
Museum of American History, where Earl Tupper's papers are housed.
Tupperware Worldwide, the company, gave $15,000 to the Smithsonian over
the past four years to safeguard archival film footage about the
company.
This financial support was not disclosed to reporters at the press
conference, or in the book.
Smithsonian officials pretend not to understand the problem of corporate
control over history.
"Why is it important?" asks Mimi Minnick, an archivist at Tupper
collection at the Smithsonian. "They are a private family. [The
$200,000]
is an unrestricted gift. They had no control or influence over the book.
They didn't buy anything."
It could be that Tupperware and the Tupper family didn't buy anything
from
the Smithsonian. But the rule of thumb in these cases is simple -- don't
bite the hand that feeds you. And the Smithsonian didn't.
The Smithsonian used to be a public space -- where independent
historians
could present history and independent scientists could present science
--
free of the distorting lens of profit-making large corporations.
Now, it has been transformed into an bustling accounts receivable --
where
big money defines the outline of history and science.
In the past, the Smithsonian has taken big money from the chemical
industry to present an exhibit on "Science in American Life" and from
the
oil industry to present an exhibit on "Oil in the Arctic." Now, it puts
out a puff piece on plastics.
And of course, it is not just the Smithsonian that is selling its public
space to the highest bidder. It's almost a daily event in our nation's
capital.
Tonight, for example, at the Library of Congress, the Library will host
an
interview by Parade magazine editor Walter Anderson of Disney
Corporation
Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner, part of a series "on the moral,
academic
and technological challenges of the next century."
We put in a call to Library spokesperson Craig D'Ooge to inquire as to
how
much money Disney has donated in recent years to the Library of
Congress.
"They are a major contributor," D'Ooge said. "I'll get back to you with
the numbers."
Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime
Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based
Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The
Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common
Courage Press, 1999; http://www.corporatepredators.org)
(c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
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