Yes, that is what it means. From an NPR piece this morning:
The invention needed a show and tell. Enter a single mother in Detroit named Brownie Wise, who convinced Tupper to sell at Tupperware parties. She led their runaway success and became the first woman on the cover of Businessweek for letting generations of homemakers see themselves as saleswomen.
Exactly my thought about socks. I periodically go through all out containers and lids, matching and weeding out, yet there always seem to be containers with no lid. Is there a lid poltergeist?
I also re-use the deli containers. (I have cup-, pint-, and quart-sized.) I throw one out if it gets those rough white lines inside.)
During the pandemic, I got a bazillion #5 containers from Chinese restaurants. I couldnāt even give them away, and finally I threw out a few dozen. I hate#5 plasticsāthey claim to be recyclable, but that is not true where we are (or most places).
Oh my. I own a set of Tupperware storage containers that I bought for storing flour, rice, and the like after an outbreak of pantry bugs from something or other. The containers are as pristine as the day I purchased them. Might have been (gasp) 30-ish years ago!
Similar non-Tupperware containers acquired over the years yellowed, scratched, or both and didnāt seem okay to continue using.
The only piece of Tupperware I own. Lid underneath. Deviled egg holder. My mother sent it to me brand new about 40 years ago. Think Iāve used it maybe twice. Just always seemed too nice to throw away.
Even worse than lids that mysteriously disappear: the three-piece popsicle molds (plus the base). How many sticks have we inadvertently thrown away? Lord only knows!
I will say this for Tupperware, though: their basic pieces last FOREVER. My mom still uses storage pieces - at least the ones for which she still has lids - that are probably old enough to draw Social Security. OTOH, Tupperware makes some strangely single-purpose items. I remember the taco prep station set which looked like it may have been designed by Playskool! IIRC, it had a portioned bowl with a lid that had an integrated cutting board and a hole in it. The idea was you could chop ingredients, slide them into the hole to drop into one of the portioned sections, and rotate the lid so the hole was over another section and repeat for another ingredient. Talk about a unitasker.
That brings back a fond memory. When I was a kid, my auntās mother was an amazing cook who regularly created feasts for the extended family.
I remember my young self being quite impressed that she owned a Tupperware deviled egg holder.
Today there are many single-purpose kitchen items in the kitchens of ordinary folks. Back then, not so much.