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Life of the Party: The Remarkable Story of How Brownie Wise Built, and Lost, a Tupperware Party Empire Audiobook
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The incredible story of Brownie Wise, the Southern single mother—and postwar #Girlboss—who built, and lost, a Tupperware home-party empire
Before Mary Kay, Martha Stewart, and Joy Mangano, there was Brownie Wise, the charismatic Tupperware executive who converted postwar optimism into a record-breaking sales engine powered by American housewives. In Life of the Party, Bob Kealing offers the definitive portrait of Wise, a plucky businesswoman who divorced her alcoholic husband, started her own successful business, and eventually caught the eye of Tupperware inventor, Earl Tupper, whose plastic containers were collecting dust on store shelves.
The Tupperware Party that Wise popularized, a master-class in the soft sell, drove Tupperware’s sales to soaring heights. It also gave minimally educated and economically invisible postwar women, including some African-American women, an acceptable outlet for making their own money for their families—and for being rewarded for their efforts. With the people skills of Dale Carnegie, the looks of Doris Day, and the magnetism of Eva Peron, Wise was as popular among her many devoted followers as she was among the press, and she become the first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week in 1954. Then, at the height of her success, Wise’s ascent ended as quickly as it began. Earl Tupper fired her under mysterious circumstances, wrote her out of Tupperware’s success story, and left her with a pittance. He walked away with a fortune and she disappeared—until now.
Originally published as Tupperware Unsealed by the University Press of Florida in 2008—and optioned by Sony Pictures, with Sandra Bullock attached to star—this revised and updated edition is perfectly timed to take advantage of renewed interest in this long-overlooked American business icon.
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“Narrator Kimberly Farr performs this chronicle…Farr’s winning characterization of Wise adds meaning even to some of the driest details of running a business…and she capitalizes on moments of drama, particularly the tumultuous relationship between Wise and Tupperware creator Earl Tupper…An interesting piece of history and a portrait of a trailblazing woman.”
— AudioFile
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“[A] vivid portrait of Tupperware’s origins…Kealing celebrates Wise’s struggles against sexist, chauvinist corporate America…[It’s] a book that certainly does her justice.”
— Wall Street Journal -
"[The author’s] writing could help restore Ms. Wise to her rightful place in the history of American business. Don’t wait for the movie. Join the ‘Party’ now.”
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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About Bob Kealing
Bob Kealing is a four-time Emmy Award–winning broadcast journalist and a recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award. He has appeared on such national programs as Dateline NBC, the Today show, CBS This Morning, and has been a guest on NPR, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, and C-SPAN. Kealing’s research led to the establishment of the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida, a literary landmark in the National Register of Historic Places, and Gram Parsons Derry Down, a Florida heritage site honoring the pioneering country-rock musician in his birthplace, Winter Haven. Kealing lives north of Orlando with his wife, son, and daughter.
About Kimberly Farr
Kimberly Farr is an actress and winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for narration. She has appeared on Broadway and at the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Roundabout Theatre, Playwright’s Horizons, and the American Place. She created the role of “Eve” in Arthur Miller’s first and only musical, Up from Paradise, which was directed by the author. She appeared with Vanessa Redgrave in the Broadway production of The Lady from the Sea and has acted in regional theaters across the country, including a performance in the original production of The 1940’s Radio Hour at Washington, DC’s Arena Stage.