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Concept
Brownie Wise
Summary
Brownie Wise (; May 25, 1913 – September 24, 1992) was a pioneering American saleswoman largely responsible for the success of the home products company Tupperware, through her development of the "party plan" system of marketing. She initially worked as a salesperson for Stanley Home Products to supplement her income, before switching to selling Tupperware. Wise was vice president of Tupperware Home Parties between 1951 and 1958 when she was fired by Tupperware's founder Earl Tupper.
Wise was born Brownie Mae Humphrey on May 25, 1913, in Buford, Georgia, to Jerome and Rose Stroud Humphrey. When Wise was two years old, her parents divorced, making her mother a single parent. Her mother worked as an organizer for a hat makers' union, often traveling for months at a time, leaving Wise in the care of her aunt. Wise dropped out of school in her teens, and by the age of fourteen was delivering speeches at union rallies. She met her future husband, Robert W. Wise, at the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. After marrying later that year, they moved to Detroit, where their only child, Jerry, was born in 1938. Robert was often violent; in one case, he threw a bottle of acid at his mother-in-law. Their marriage lasted less than five years before Brownie filed for divorce and was awarded custody of her son.
After her divorce, Wise moved to Dearborn, Michigan, where she lived with her mother. During World War II, they turned their attic into a living space for airmen. At the war's height, their basement was used as a first-aid clinic for injured soldiers. Wise worked as an executive secretary at Bendix Aviation, an aircraft manufacturing company, and was a columnist for The Detroit News, writing under the pen name "Hibiscus". After the war ended, Wise started working as a salesperson for Stanley Home Products using the party plan marketing system. Eventually, Wise wanted to work as an executive in the company, but its founder, Frank Beveridge, told her not to "waste her time", informing her that management was "no place for a woman".
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