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Let's not forget that Tupperware made a bunch of plastic toys, too
Did you grow up with a Pop-A-Lot, Shape-O or TupperCanoe?
Image: eBay
Aside from Dustin Hoffman banging on a church window and Mrs. Robinson, the most memorable thing about The Graduate was a single line of dialogue: "One word: Plastics."
That word of advice might seem funny, but there was a ring of truth to it. Plastics became a major part of home life in the 1960s and 1970s, due in no small part to Tupperware.
The Tupperware party became one of the key social gatherings of suburbia, as moms gathered in living rooms to sell and swap sealable leftover containers, pastel-colored pitchers, popsicle molds and so much more. If you held on to the stuff, it could be worth money today. Tupperware remains trendy (and, we should mention, it's still a successful company). But Tupperware offered far more than kitchen gadgets.
Tupperware produced an entire line of toys dubbed Tuppertoys. Safe and durable, these plastic playthings likely stoke some nostalgia for kids who grew up in the 1970s. Here are some of our favorites. Did you have any?
1. Shape-O
It teaches kids the meaning of the idiom "Square peg in a round hole" at a young age. This sphere became an icon for the company. Today, Tupperware still sells this one toy on its website.
Image: Tupperware
2. Dog, Elephant and Giraffe
This plastic pooch bore some resemblance to Clifford the Big Red Dog. He popped apart into five segments, which could be swapped and snapped to his pals, the elephant and the giraffe.
Image: thisgirllel
3. TupperCanoe
"TupperCanoe" was a clever nod to our ninth president, William Henry Harrison, nicknamed "Tippecanoe." And, really, what toddler doesn't love references to 1840 election slogans when taking a bath?
Image: Pinterest
4. Busy Blocks
Nothing is more timeless or universal as a set of building blocks. Well, unless you use a different alphabet.
Image: Pinterest
5. Amphibio
A floating boat-train with peg people! Peg people get the best transportation.
Image: Pinterest
6. Noah's Ark
So that's how he fit so many animals on the boat. They were pretty skinny.
Image: Tupperware
7. Pop-A-Lot
If lacrosse had a baby with a turkey baster, it would be this ball-blasting-and-catching game.
Image: carafedelight / eBay
9. Build-O-Fun
These connectible sets were Tupperware's answer to LEGO or Tinkertoy.
Image: Pinterest
10. Pick-Em-Up Truck
As little kids, we called pickup trucks "pick 'em up trucks," and now know this was the reason.
Image: kijiji
11. Gearios
Oh, wait, so this was more the LEGO-meets-Tinkertoy toy — even if "Gearios" sounds more like a machinery-themed cereal.
Image: Etsy
12. Eggsters
"Pudgy Pup" and "Bulgy Bear" were akin to a Mr. Potato Head, but for kids who wanted to laugh at overweight animals.
Image: Newton / Flickr
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Every so often the cable TV channel Turner Classic Movies (TCM) runs an old Tupperware promo movie, which is rather interesting as it shows both the products being made, and the schmaltzy Tupperware Party sales system used in the early days.
