Brownie Wise invented Tupperware parties. (Getty Images)

In 1954, Brownie Wise became the first woman featured on the cover of Business Week magazine. That’s right: a) the publication has been around that long (who knew?!) and b) a gal named Brownie snagged that spot by inventing Tupperware parties of all things.

Armed with a degree from secretarial school, Wise weathered a divorce, cared for her ailing son and mother and eventually become vice president of Tupperware Home Parties in 1951. She and her mom began selling home products, including Poly-T that would become Tupperware, door-to-door then realized that they could improve sales by setting up home parties that catered to suburban women’s schedules and social patterns. The kitchenware fiestas epitomize retro housewifery, as the BBC recounts: “Briefly liberated from their domestic routine, guests would play games such as ‘Waist Measurement’ or ‘Write An Honest Advert To Sell Your Husband’ before being sold Wonder Bowls and Ketchup Funnels.” But it doesn’t seem right to cast aside the accomplishments of one of America’s first female corporate leaders, either, although she strayed toward the kookier side.

In 1957, Wise published Best Wishes, Brownie, a The Secret-esque guide for women. In it, she encouraged women to claim their “wishes” in life and gushed, “It’s wonderful to be a woman. Women and wishes just seem to go together!” Maybe Wise herself didn’t wish hard enough because in 1958, Tupperware gave Wise the boot, “despite being the single biggest driving force in the company’s success, apparently because the puritanical Tupper disapproved of her flamboyant lifestyle,” the BBC reports. And by “flamboyant,” the Tupperware execs meant Wise’s girly frivolities, including a pink Cadillac and pet Palomino. I’m betting Best Wishes had something to do with it as well.

Wise sued the company for wrongful termination and $1.3 million but ended up settling for only $30,000.

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