Page after page of 1950s advertisements portrayed American women as homemakers, equipped with the latest domestic gadgets, freed from the drudgery of past generations. In reality, many women needed to earn money to support themselves and their families, yet they had limited work options.
The jobs they could get in factories, on farms, behind store counters, or as secretaries offered little flexibility for scheduling family duties, and not much hope for advancement. Many husbands identified themselves as the breadwinners and expected their wives to stay home. Home party selling gave women the opportunity to earn money while working from their homes, serving both the prevailing social code and a practical need.
Women do not get very much recognition for being a good mother, a good housekeeper, a good wife, cooking a good meal.
- Lavon Weber
Meet Lavon Weber
We were farmers. My folks both had a good work ethic, so we all knew how to work. We had cows to milk and chickens and hogs and herded cattle, and worked in the field, and I started very young working in the field. We all learned how to work...
There [were] three girls and four boys, and there was only eleven years difference in the oldest and the youngest. And my mother, I marvel at the work she did, because not only did she have those seven children crowded up in a little tiny house, but she raised a garden, she canned, she did chores, she milked cows, she raised turkeys, chickens, everything...
I grew up on the farm, and went to country school, and a very small high school. And we were pretty down-home folks. First [Tupperware] Jubilee I went to, I was just blown away. They even served caviar. Of course I didn't want to eat any of it when I saw it, but I was impressed. The fact that we had orchids just hanging around on the wall for decoration, and these banquet meals, even though it was in a circus tent to start with, all this was really uptown for us.
I'll say, 'Now, practice what you're going to say, and one of the best places to do it is in front of the mirror, because then you see: Are you smiling? How are you coming across? Are you frowning?' And it's funny how you'll get right in front of the mirror, and just seeing yourself, you almost forget... You need to practice before you go to give that demonstration.
I've been in it so long that it's just a way of life with me. And I've tried to make quilts, and I've tried to do ... a little bit of painting. I can get lost in doing flower arrangements. But you know, how many flower arrangements can you make? My kids' houses all look like a mortuary, I got so many flower arrangements in it. So they don't need me. They've proved they don't need me. I need them. I need to be there.
Weber eventually gave her Tupperware distributorship to her son and daughter-in-law, but she found it difficult to retire from the business.
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