Fascinating
facts about the invention
of Band-Aid by Earle
Dickson in 1920. |
BAND-AID® |
|
| Josephine Dickson married a
man who worked for a company that manufactured gauze and adhesive tape called Johnson
& Johnson. We will never know the reason, but it is a fact that Josephine Dickson was
accident prone. During the first week that she was married to Earle Dickson, she cut her
self twice with the kitchen knife. After that, it just went from bad to worse. It seemed
that Josephine was always cutting herself. |
 |
One day her husband had an idea. He sat
down with some tape and gauze and a pair of scissors. Then he cut the tape into strips. In
the middle of each strip he stuck a little square of gauze. From then on, whenever
Josephine had an accident, ready-made bandages were on hand for her to use quickly and
without a lot of fuss. At Johnson & Johnson, they heard about these new bandages that
could be put on in thirty seconds. |
| Soon the company was making
them to sell on a small scale. Four years later, in 1924, the company installed machines
for mass producing the new product, and the trade name BAND-AID was adopted. |
TO LEARN MORE
RELATED INFORMATION:
Healthcare History from The Great Idea Finder
ON THE BOOKSHELF:
The
Kid Who Invented the Popsicle : And Other Surprising Stories About Inventions
by Don L. Wulffson / Paperback - 128 pages (1999)
/ Puffin
Brief factual stories about how various familiar things were invented, many by accident,
from animal crackers to the zipper.
Why Didn't I Think of That?: Bizarre Origins of
Ingenious Inventions We Couldn't Live Without
by Allyn Freeman, Bob Golden (Contributor) /
Paperback - 224 pages (1997) / John Wiley & Sons
Inventions chronicles the odd origins of famous products,
explores how these inventions changed our lives, and reveals the business side of their
production and distribution.
ON THE SCREEN:
Mavericks, Miracles and Medicine
DVD / 2 Volume Set / 200 Minutes / History Channel / Less than $40.00
The arsenals of today's hospitals are filled with complex and
technologically sophisticated tests and treatments that, only a
generation ago, would have been the exclusive province of science
fiction.
ON THE WEB:
The BAND-AID Brand
The invention of adhesive bandages from the Johnson & Johnson
site. Lots of COOKIES at this site.
(URL: www.bandaid.com/brand_story.shtml)
Invention
Dimension-Inventor of the Week
Featured Earle Dickson November, 2000 for his invention of Band-Aid Adhesive
Bandages.
(URL: web.mit.edu/invent/iow/dickson.html)
75 Years of BAND-AID
One man's home page devoted to the band-aid. Lot's of photo's.
(URL: www.savetz.com/bandaid/)
Johnson & Johnson
Official site
History of the BAND-AID and other fun things to do. Lots of COOKIES at this
site.
(URL: www.jnj.com)
DID YOU KNOW:
- When sales took off slower then expected, the company
distributed an unlimited number of free BAND-AID to Boy Scout troops across the country.
- The company estimates that since its introduction, more than
100 billion BAND-AID have been sold worldwide.
- At the time of Earle Dickson death, in 1961, Johnson & Johnson was
selling over $30,000,000 worth of Band-Aids® each year.
|
BAND-AID®
is a registered trademark of JOHNSON & JOHNSON.
The RED CROSS Design is a registered trademark of JOHNSON & JOHNSON.
| Reference
Sources in BOLD Type |
This
page revised February, 2005. |
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