Mould for a Tupperware container, 1965.
Image number: 10278393
A single impression mould used in the injection moulding of a Tupperware 'Mix-n-stor' container, shown with a container sitting in the mould casing. The container is made from polythene. Tupperware was developed by an American, Earl Tupper, in the mid 1940s. Polythene was discovered in 1933 by Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett, two scientists working at ICI's research laboratory at Winnington, near Northwich in Cheshire, as the result of a laboratory accident. The first patents for polythene were registered in 1936, and a year later the first practical use for the material, as a film, was discovered. Polythene was used as an insulating material for radar cables during World War II, and the substance was a closely guarded secret. After the war it began to be produced commercially.
- Image number:
- Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library
- Date taken:
- 12 January 2004 15:29
- Image rights:
- Science Museum