Small Home Gazette, Spring 2018

History Brief: The Band-Aid, a Modest Form of Care

In 1920, Earle Dickson, a cotton buyer for a New Jersey medical supply company known as Johnson & Johnson, wanted a bandage his accident-prone wife could easily apply herself. He took two of the company’s products—adhesive tape and gauze—and combined them by laying out a long, wide piece of surgical tape and placing a strip of gauze down the middle. To keep the adhesive from sticking to itself, he covered it with crinoline fabric.

In 1921, BAND-AID® Brand adhesive bandages hit the market. Made by hand and sold in sheets, each measured 3 inches wide by 18 inches long. The first year, only $3,000 worth was sold (about $40,000 today). But sales increased after the company hired salesmen to demonstrate the new product to doctors, butchers and retail pharmacists.

This 1921 advertisement doubled as a set of instructions.

By 1924, Band-Aids were machine cut in multiple sizes including the versatile 3- by ¾-inch size—AND the little red string used to open the wrapper was introduced. The cardboard box packaging was replaced with the first tin container in 1926.