James F. Boyce was an American chemist who worked for the N.K. Fairbank Company of Chicago, a manufacturer of lard, cooking oils, soaps, and detergents. He helped create new washing products such as Gold Dust washing powder. Boyce pioneered techniques that are now used in the isolation and removal of consumable hydrogenated vegetable oils from plants. Later in life, he ran the Chicago Glass Novelty Company.

Fairbank's Gold Dust washing products was a line of all-purpose cleaning agents researched and developed by the N. K. Fairbank Manufacturing Company. First introduced to the American consumer in 1889, Gold Dust Washing Powder became a success due in large part to its low selling price and bright, eye-catching packaging. The most easily recognized members of the soap line were Gold Dust Washing Powder and Gold Dust Scouring Soap. They were marketed in boxes and containers prominently featuring the brand's well known trademark, the Gold Dust Twins. "Let the Twins Do Your Work" was the product's long lasting and ubiquitous slogan.