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DIED. Earl Silas Tupper, 76, self-described "ham inventor" who developed an unbreakable, flexible, shape-retaining polyethylene that, when molded into a variety of colored dishes, bowls and air-tight containers, became Tupperware; of a heart attack; in San Jose, Costa Rica. Notably tightfisted, Tupper, who founded his company in 1942, was the sole shareholder and personally designed and manufactured his products in his own factories. He also conceived the still popular "Tupperware party," a direct-sales technique launched in the 1950s, which he used to sell his line to groups gathered in the home of a neighbor. Tupper sold his corporation to Rexall in 1958 for an estimated $9 million and remained board chairman until 1973.