The Gold Dust Twins (radio show)

The Gold Dust Twins radio hour was on the air in 1921. Broadcast and syndicated nationally, the program starred Harvey Hindemeyer as "Goldie", and Earle Tuckerman as "Dusty." It was one of the earliest examples of media–product tie-ins

Not to be confused with Gold Dust Twins.

Close-up of two gentlemen in blackface
Comedians Hindemeyer and Tuckerman as Goldy and Dusty
Country of originU.S.
Starring
  • Harvey Hindemeyer
  • Earle Tuckerman
Original releaseMarch 15th, 1921 –
July 21st, 1943
Audio formatAnalog
Opening themeThe Gold Dust jingle
Sponsored byGold Dust washing products and Lever Brothers

Background
Main article: Gold Dust Twins

The Gold Dust Twins were conceived early-on as the trademarked icons for Fairbanks' Gold Dust washing powder products. The original Gold Dust Twin caricatures were often depicted doing household chores together. They appeared in printed media as early as 1892, and adorned the packages of the several lines of washing products developed and marketed by N.K. Fairbanks, a Chicago soap and food additive company. The use of the "Goldie" and "Dusty" product mascots in a 1903 national advertising campaign[lower-alpha 1] that featured a booth with two live actors depicting the characters at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, was hugely successful for the popularity of the Twins, and for the company, whose soap products became national staples in the United States during the early to mid twentieth-century.[1][2][3]

The program

The Gold Dust Twins radio show of the decade of the 1920s was an innovative marketing tool for the Gold Dust product line. The program was sponsored by Lever Brothers and Gold Dust washing powder. The program featured comedians Harvey Hindemeyer (as "Goldie"), and Earle Tuckerman (as "Dusty"), who performed their comedic skits in blackface, depicting somewhat minstrel-like caricatures of two bumbling black men.[4][3]

An early example of product tie-ins, Gold Dust's advertising jingle became the show's theme song, and was sung by Hindemeyer and Tuckerman.[5] The two actors embodied the characters of the Gold Dust Twin icons found in the advertising for the Fairbanks' soap line.[4]

See also

Notes
  1. The "Goldie" and "Dusty" product mascots were drawn by E.W. Kemble, a political cartoonist for a Chicago newspaper.

References
  1. Dailey, Jane Elizabeth; Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth; Simon, Bryant (2000). Jumpin' Jim Crow: Southern Politics from Civil War to Civil Rights. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780691001937.
  2. "This Little Piggie Went to Market". Chicago Historical Journal. November 2020. Archived from the original on November 13, 2009.
  3. How The Gold Dust Twins Came To Haunt Auburn Avenue; Stokes, Stephannie; Web article; WABE radio; "Here and Now"; accessed March 2023
  4. "Excerpts from Broadcast History". Tripod. November 27, 2020. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  5. Thomas, Velma M.; Your Advertisement Troubles Me—Atlanta's Gold Dust Twins; 2020-11-27 on-line article; ATLS: Atlanta Studies; retrieved March 202
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