Now she says that it is indicative of a woman's lifestyle, the way she takes care of her belongings and her food.

"Even the new styles are reflective of the changing nature of today's world," she adds.

The newest models range from their limited release Fireworks Speckled collection of luncheon plates and butter dishes to their updated old standby, the ever-popular Modular Mates--standard box-shaped containers for dry goods.

"Tupperware is 41 years old now, but there are still people who believe that it hasn't changed since the 1950s," she said. "That's simply not the case anymore."

Last year at the annual Tupperware convention in Orlando, the designer, Morrison Cousins, led a retrospective on the evolution of Tupperware aesthetics.

While some remained unconvinced that Tupperware can save the world by color coding cabinets, the converted will still defend their "Maxi-Cake Takers"--portable containers for cakes--to the bitter end.

At the Lowell party, Tupperware's inherent usefulness was never in dispute. But guests all had their own favorite uses for the plastic.

"I like Tupperware because the dogs that search for drugs can't sniff through that guaranteed air and liquid-tight seal," says Daniel N. Webb '96.

Krishnaswamy offered his hypothesis that "maybe it's something they cook the plastic with that makes it so cool."

Maybe it all comes down to "Sanjay's Economic Theory: Tupperware is so important to us," he says, "not only because it appeases our anal retentive roommates, but also because it is representative of the American capitalistic spirit which ultimately led the United States through the Cold War while the USSR collapsed."

They didn't have Tupperware, you see.