How the Band-Aid® Arrived

In 1919 a housewife by the name of Josephine Dickson scraped and cut herself so often, her husband, Earle, found himself attending to her wounds on a consistent basis. As a result of her clumsiness and her husband's inventiveness, though, we can thank the Dicksons for a product called the BAND-AID®. Josephine's husband became so adept at dressing his wife's wounds that he approached his employer, Johnson & Johnson, with his idea.

Prior to the BAND-AID® the common unsanitary method of treating wounds was to use pressed sawdust, generally waste material from sawmill floors.

Using company tape and gauze, Earle would affix the makeshift adhesive to his wife's wounds. Using a strip of crinoline to keep the tape from sticking to itself, he was able to prepare an entire roll for his wife by separating the gauze pieces in such a manner as to allow her to cut the material on an as-needed basis.

Encouraged by a colleague, Earle approached management who, in 1920, produced the first BAND-AID®. Another employee, W. Johnson Kenyon, suggested its name.

The product didn't take off however, until a successful campaign offered free BAND-AIDS® to Boy Scouts and butchers. Today BAND-AIDS® come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.