TOPS Club Inc., located on the south side of Milwaukee, is significance as one of the most influential dieting organizations in the nation, its pioneering alignment with the medical and scientific community in understanding obesity, and as an inspiration to other group-supported self-help organizations. The international non-profit organization’s main building, occupied solely by the company since its construction in 1965, consists of TOPS headquarters, offices, publishing and printing departments, and shipping and warehousing of its publications.

TOPS was founded by Esther Manz and a few friends in 1948 to support each other’s goals in losing weight. From this humble beginning, it grew rapidly through the 1950s and 1960s with members in every state and across the world, receiving TOPS publications and guides and taking part in local meetings to support other members in their weight-loss goals, reaching a peak of over 300,000 members. The organization also aligned itself with the medical community and only shared clinically sound information while promoting obesity research through funding and patient trials since the 1970s, influencing contemporary medical understanding of weight control. TOPS did not tell its members what to eat, but only shared successful and healthy methods while providing a public support system making it distinct from other popular post-war dieting organizations and trends.