Gold dust washing powder
Encyclopedia
Fairbank's Gold Dust Washing Products was a line of all-purpose cleaning agent
s researched and developed in the late 1880s by the Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank
Soap Manufacturing Company. First introduced to the American consumer in 1889, Gold Dust Washing Powder quickly became a success due in large part to its low selling price. The most easily recognized members of the soap line was Gold Dust Washing Powder and Gold Dust Scouring Soap. They were marketed in boxes and containers prominently featuring the brand
's well known Gold Dust Twins
mascot
s. The backside of the box depicted these twins tackling several household chores and a list of jobs made easier by using Gold Dust Washing Powder. "Let the Twins Do Your Work" was the product's ubiquitous slogan.
believed to be better, and economical, cleaning agents. Most of these new products, however, were simply pulverized soap and fell short of having any significant improvement in the task of doing the laundry.
vegetable oils in its processing, a procedure the company pioneered, and industry quickly embraced. The formula for Gold Dust Washing Powder had been refined by industrial chemist James Boyce
working out of the Chicago, IL
facilities of the New York based Fairbank Company. Boyce's industrial hydrogenation procedure, when applied to cottonseed (and other plant materials), was a scientific breakthrough. This allowed for its subsequent use (by French chemist Paul Sabatier
and manufacturing giant Procter & Gamble
) in the commercial exploitation of vegetable oils and fats.
Initially a regional success in the midwestern United States, Gold Dust Washing Powder quickly rose to national prominence after the brand was licensed for distribution in America by the Lever Brothers
Company, headquartered at the time in Cambridge, MA
.
Lever brothers purchased Gold Dust in the 1930s.
Gold Dust Twins. The Gold Dust Twin characters of Goldie and Dustie were the 'faces' of Gold Dust products through most of their lifetimes, becoming one of the earliest brand-driven trademark
s in American advertising. They were often comically depicted, along with a huge stack of dishes in a washtub, with one twin cleaning, the other drying. The Gold Dust Twins Radio Show —first broadcast in 1929 and created around the twins (and sponsored jointly by Gold Dust and Lever Brothers) —was one of the first of its kind in marketing history.
homes during the first half of the twentieth century, had a strong presence in the marketplace for more than sixty years. Changing national sensibilities over the brand's mascots, combined with increased marketing pressure from newer competing lines (especially Procter & Gamble
's "Tide"), caused a relatively quick demise of the Gold Dust product line.
Cleaning agent
Cleaning agents are substances, usually liquids, that are used to remove dirt, including dust, stains, bad smells, and clutter on surfaces. Purposes of cleaning agents include health, beauty, absence of offensive odor, avoidance of shame, and avoidance of spreading of dirt and contaminants to...
s researched and developed in the late 1880s by the Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank
N. K. Fairbank
Nathaniel Kellogg "N.K." Fairbank was a Chicago industrialist whose company, the N.K. Fairbank Co., manufactured soap as well as animal and baking products in conjunction with the great meat packing houses in northern Illinois. The company had factories in Chicago, St. Louis, Montreal and...
Soap Manufacturing Company. First introduced to the American consumer in 1889, Gold Dust Washing Powder quickly became a success due in large part to its low selling price. The most easily recognized members of the soap line was Gold Dust Washing Powder and Gold Dust Scouring Soap. They were marketed in boxes and containers prominently featuring the brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
's well known Gold Dust Twins
Gold Dust Twins
The Gold Dust Twins originated as the mascots for Fairbank's Gold Dust Washing Powder products as early as 1892. It has seen popular use as a moniker in several instances since...
mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
s. The backside of the box depicted these twins tackling several household chores and a list of jobs made easier by using Gold Dust Washing Powder. "Let the Twins Do Your Work" was the product's ubiquitous slogan.
Background
The chore of doing the laundry had begun to change with the introduction of washing powders in the 1880s. Until this time, laundry was done using hard bar soap and washboards. The success of several of the new washing powders had proven that there was a ready market for what the consumerConsumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
believed to be better, and economical, cleaning agents. Most of these new products, however, were simply pulverized soap and fell short of having any significant improvement in the task of doing the laundry.
History
Introduced in 1889 by the Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank Soap Company, Gold Dust Washing Powder was the first all purpose laundry powder made possible by employing hydrogenatedHydrogenation
Hydrogenation, to treat with hydrogen, also a form of chemical reduction, is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic compounds. Hydrogenation typically...
vegetable oils in its processing, a procedure the company pioneered, and industry quickly embraced. The formula for Gold Dust Washing Powder had been refined by industrial chemist James Boyce
James F. Boyce, Sr.
James F. Boyce was an American chemist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries involved in the manufacturing of soaps and detergents. He also pioneered techniques now used in the isolation and removal of consumable hydrogenated vegetable oils from plants, especially cottonseed...
working out of the Chicago, IL
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
facilities of the New York based Fairbank Company. Boyce's industrial hydrogenation procedure, when applied to cottonseed (and other plant materials), was a scientific breakthrough. This allowed for its subsequent use (by French chemist Paul Sabatier
Paul Sabatier (chemist)
Paul Sabatier FRS was a French chemist, born at Carcassonne. He taught science classes most of his life before he became Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Toulouse in 1905....
and manufacturing giant Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
) in the commercial exploitation of vegetable oils and fats.
Initially a regional success in the midwestern United States, Gold Dust Washing Powder quickly rose to national prominence after the brand was licensed for distribution in America by the Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
Company, headquartered at the time in Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
.
Lever brothers purchased Gold Dust in the 1930s.
The Gold Dust Twins
After 1892, the product's packaging— black and white graphics on a bright orange background —focused attention on the iconicCultural icon
A cultural icon can be a symbol, logo, picture, name, face, person, building or other image that is readily recognized and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group...
Gold Dust Twins. The Gold Dust Twin characters of Goldie and Dustie were the 'faces' of Gold Dust products through most of their lifetimes, becoming one of the earliest brand-driven trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
s in American advertising. They were often comically depicted, along with a huge stack of dishes in a washtub, with one twin cleaning, the other drying. The Gold Dust Twins Radio Show —first broadcast in 1929 and created around the twins (and sponsored jointly by Gold Dust and Lever Brothers) —was one of the first of its kind in marketing history.
End of the line
Gold Dust Washing Powder, found in many U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
homes during the first half of the twentieth century, had a strong presence in the marketplace for more than sixty years. Changing national sensibilities over the brand's mascots, combined with increased marketing pressure from newer competing lines (especially Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
's "Tide"), caused a relatively quick demise of the Gold Dust product line.