Tupperware was the ultimate in kitchen prep and presentation during my childhood years.  It was the forerunner in plastic kitchen gadgetry and food preservation.  I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to it growing up, as the kitchen was my mother and grandmother’s domain.  But I recognized it in friends’ kitchens, and that their moms used it, too. The burp-y lids that ensured your leftovers would be kept fresh; the cake holders that could accommodate several layers of cakes; the tall salt and pepper shakers with the mini burp-y lids; and who could forget the deviled egg plate?  I would also throw this into the category of pop-culture collectibles.  There was a slight air of exclusivity about it: you could only purchase it at a Tupperware “party” and they were expensive.  Fast forward to my high school years.  This pretty little lunch holder was rolled out by Tupperware.  At my school, I think it was a status symbol.  If you had this holder (which included a covered sandwich and salad container, and a mini-cup), you were stylin’.  It came in red, and I think brown, too.  This was the quintessential lunch bin for the kids (particularly girls) who had grown up with cartoon lunch boxes.  Yes, I still have mine, minus the inner-holders.  I found it when I was cleaning out my mom’s house in 2012.  She kept it in her closet all those years.  I imagine in the early 80s it took a lot for a secretary to put aside $30 for this novelty.  But she did it because it was an expression of love.  And she kept it because it was a little piece of me.  Today, I keep it in my closet and think of her every time I look up at it.  Thank you, Mama.

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