I have to start out this posting by noting that I am not a sports fan and even more – I am not a boxing fan! So I can’t really tell you why sports in general, and in this case boxing in particular, are such popular subjects with most Americans.
Having said that I can say that sports are very popular in America and that Jack Dempsey is well known to American sports fans as a past world heavy weight boxing champion.
Jack Dempsey was born William Harrison Dempsey in Manassa, Colorado on June 24, 1895. He was something of a nomad in his teens and early twenties and traveled from town to town in Colorado engaging in boxing matches and winning them; and frequently winning his boxing matches in the first few minutes by knocking his opponent out.
Jack Dempsey’s boxing skill was exceptional – he seemed to have fists of granite — and he earned his nickname of the “Manassa Mauler” in a famous 1919 match with then heavy weight champion of the world Jess Willard. Dempsey beat Willard very soundly and was awarded the title of Heavy Weight Champion of the World which he held from 1919 to 1926. In 1926 Dempsey was defeated by boxer Gene Tunney and lost his heavy weight title. A re-match was held in 1927 and Dempsey again lost the match to Tunney which effectively ended his heavy weight career although he continued to box in exhibition matches until formally retiring from boxing in 1940 with an astonishing record of 60 victories, 7 draws and 8 losses.
After he retired from boxing Jack Dempsey became a successful restaurateur in New York City but he will always be remembered as one of the greatest boxers to ever put on a pair of gloves.
Dempsey died on May 31, 1983.
Here’s a link to a Bio biography of Dempsey:
http://www.biography.com/people/jack-dempsey-9271466
And a link to a YouTube clip of that 1919 match should you wish to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsybhasS-R0
A Bit About Tupperware: If you’ve never seen it and never attended a Tupperware party – the term “Tupperware” refers to light weight plastic containers that were developed just after World War II with plastics that were developed during the war. Inventor Earl Tupper invented Tupperware which had a great advantage over traditional glass containers of being lighter, more durable and able to seal in foods and liquids and keep those foods fresher longer. Tupper developed the product in the late forties and in the early fifties a very industrious divorcee named Brownie Wise, who really understood the lives of post-World War II women, joined forces with Tupper to establish the Tupperware Ladies group and accompanying administrative framework to sell Tupperware at Tupperware Home Parties throughout the United States. Tupper didn’t like the spotlight so he stayed in the background and worked on improving and producing Tupperware products and Brownie Wise, who was a natural at both management and public relations and one of the few women in the United States to work in a higher level management position in the 1950s, was chiefly responsible for the sales force that sold Tupperware to consumers across the United States. Wise became the public face of the company and Tupper managed the production side of the equation and stayed in the background.
The Tupper-Wise partnership worked well from 1950 to 1957 but Earl Tupper eventually decided he wanted to sell his exceptionally prosperous business. And he correspondingly thought that having a woman seen as the head of the company was a determent so he fired Brown Wise in early 1958. Wise was offered a pittance of $35,000 worth of severance pay for her years of hard work and effort which greatly contributed to Tupperware becoming a multi-million company. Tupper sold the Tupperware Company to the Rexall Drug Company shortly after he fired Wise for 16 million dollars which was a huge sum 1958.
PBS offers a documentary on the Tupperware story which of course relays the interconnected stories of Brownie Wise and Earl Tupper. You can watch the entire Tupperware! Documentary by clicking on the following link:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2196104568
And if you’re wondering if Tupperware is still for sale today – it is! But you won’t find it at your local store. Instead you can still but it at a Tupperware party or via the Tupperware website itself which is found at the following link if anyone would like to check it out!
http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/home
Have a great day!
Linda R.
References
Bax. Christina. (2010, Summer). Entrepreneur Brownie Wise: Selling Tupperware to America’s Women in the 1950s. Journal of Women’s History Volume 22, Number 2. pp. 171-180. Project Muse. Online. Accessed June 24,
2013. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jowh/summary/v022/22.2.bax.html
Biography. The Official Site of Jack Dempsey. Online. Accessed June 24, 2013. http://www.cmgww.com/sports/dempsey/biography.htm
Biography Jack Dempsey. Bio. Online. Accessed June 24, 2013. http://www.biography.com/people/jack-dempsey-9271466
The American Dream Starts @ The Southeast Steuben County Library 