For sale is a nicely refinished early 1900s Refinished FAIRBANKS GOLD DUST WASHING POWDER Wood Shipping Crate with incredible advertising graphics. This re-purposed crate is an incredible one-of-a-kind item. The graphics on one long side of the crate features the Gold Dust Twins washing dishes in a washing pan with the logo: “LET THE GOLD DUST TWINS DO YOUR WORK”. The other long side of the crate features the Gold Dust Twins with one twin looking at his reflection in the bottom of the washing pan. Both short ends of the crate feature the iconic Fairbanks Gold Dust Twins company logo. The top end of the re-purposed night stand or book case is covered with glass. The top has also been accented with rope style wood trim. Vintage wood caster wheels have been added to the bottom on the crate. The two thick walnut shelves are not original to the crate.
The crate has a great rustic look with rich wood grain. This crate is believed to date to the early 1900s. A terrific vintage advertising collectible. The crate is the perfect size to use as an end table or book case. The re-purposed crate measures 30 1/2 inches tall, 21 inches
wide and 10 3/4 inches deep.
GOLD DUST TWINS HISTORY: Gold Dust Washing Powder was an all-purpose cleaning agent first introduced in the late 1880s by the Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank Soap Company based in New York City. Gold Dust was distributed in America by the Lever Brothers Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gold Dust Washing Powders had been marketed nationally since the mid-1890s, becoming a top-selling national brand by 1903. Gold Dust products were eventually marketed internationally (by Unilever) in Canada and Great Britain. The product lines’ bright orange labels all prominently featured the Gold Dust Twins. The Gold Dust Twins, ‘Goldie’ and ‘Dustie’, were the ‘faces’ of the Fairbank’s Gold Dust Washing product lines. The original (circa 1892) version of the twins was a standard drawing of two young African-American children cleaning up together in a washtub. On the original containers, they are simply pictured standing side-by-side behind a mound of gold coins, under an arch reading “Fairbank’s” and over the “Gold Dust Washing Powder” text.
By 1900, the twins had been transformed into a cartoonish pair of caricature, bald, asexual black children shown wearing tutus emblazoned with the words “Gold” and “Dust”. On product containers and in advertisements, they were often comically depicted, along with a huge stack of dishes in a washtub, with one twin cleaning, the other drying. The twins became icons following a 1903 national marketing campaign, with the slogan “Let the Twins Do Your Work”. They became an easily recognizable trademark found in many, if not most, U.S. homes during the first half of the twentieth century. The Gold Dust Twins were drawn by E.W. Kemble, a staff artist for the Chicago Daily Graphic.
