Bandages are a simple yet highly effective means of caring for and treating issues related to injuries of the neck, shoulder, wrist, knee, and leg. They were invented by Earle Dickson.
Mr. Earle Dickson. (Photo: Johnson & Johnson).
Bandages are considered one of the greatest inventions in the history of modern medicine. A simple creation that provides excellent support for treating cuts and minor scrapes. They were invented by an employee of the American company Johnson & Johnson named Earle Dickson. Earle Dickson was not an inventor; he worked as a cotton buyer for Johnson & Johnson. The invention of the bandage stemmed from his caring concern for his wife.
A Love-Inspired Invention
Earle Ensign Dickson was born on October 10, 1892, in Grandview, Tennessee. He was the son of Dr. Richard Ensign and Mrs. Minnie (Hester) Dickson. Dickson spent most of his life in Highland Park, New Jersey, where he found employment at Johnson & Johnson around the time of World War I.
According to the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Earle Dickson married Josephine Frances Knight in 1917. He noticed that his newlywed wife was constantly cutting her fingers while cooking in the kitchen. Earle Dickson also felt that the large gauze pads he used to stop the bleeding were too big and unsightly.
He then came up with the idea to help treat his wife’s wounds from the comfort of their home. Johnson & Johnson’s historian, Mrs. Margaret Gurowitz, stated: “Mr. Earle took two Johnson & Johnson products, adhesive bandage and gauze, and combined them to create the first bandage.” He created a prototype consisting of gauze and a sticky fabric covered with a removable strip to expose the adhesive, allowing the gauze and sticky fabric to cover the cut.
Old packaging of Band-Aid. (Photo: Getty Images).
Earle Dickson’s clever efforts to care for his wife led to a significant breakthrough in wound first aid. Johnson & Johnson supported Mr. Earle Dickson’s idea and named the product Band-Aid. According to Kiplinger magazine in 1964, this remarkable brand name was given by factory manager W. Johnson Kenyon. Band-Aid was launched in 1921 and was marketed by Johnson & Johnson’s traveling salesmen to pharmacies.
The generic term for Earle Dickson’s invention is bandage. However, North Americans and many places around the world associate them with the Band-Aid brand. Band-Aid became so successful that the term is used in everyday American English instead of “bandage.” This is similar to how we associate products with famous brands, such as Americans often calling tissues “Kleenex” or cotton swabs “Q-Tips.” In Europe, a similar brand to Band-Aid is Elastoplast.
The non-profit organization based in the U.S., the National Inventors Hall of Fame, noted: “Mr. Dickson’s success created the first commercial bandage for minor wounds that consumers could easily use, simultaneously creating a market that continues to grow to this day.”
The Timeless Success of Band-Aid
Boxes of Band-Aids at a pharmacy in New York (U.S.) in 2020. (Photo: AP).
Historian Gurowitz explained that before the invention of bandages, Americans typically used whatever was available at home, often a piece of cloth, to wrap around minor wounds. The medical community also spent decades trying to improve home medical bandages. According to the book “Encyclopedia of Everyday Modern Inventions” published in 2003 by authors David J. Cole, Eve Browning, and Fred E.H. Schroeder, various types of bandages using natural rubber were invented throughout the 19th century. However, none of these were sterile or antiseptic.
The authors also emphasized that very few doctors at that time were willing to adopt the germ theory pioneered by English physician Joseph Lister. According to germ theory, specific microorganisms are the causes of specific diseases. The popular antiseptic mouthwash still used today is based on this doctor’s name, Listerine. Dr. Lister also inspired the founding of one of the largest companies in the world: Johnson & Johnson.
Consequently, an American named Robert Wood Johnson heard Dr. Lister speak in 1876 and thought of preparing a line of commercial surgical bandages that were germ-free. Nine years later, he formed a partnership with his two brothers and began manufacturing in New Brunswick, New Jersey, establishing Johnson & Johnson in 1887.
Thus, Earle Dickson is a classic case of being the right person, at the right time, with the right product, in the right company. Johnson & Johnson was already a prominent manufacturer of gauze and cotton for hospitals and military personnel.
The original handmade Band-Aids did not sell well, with sales reaching only $3,000 in the first year. This may have been due to the first versions of Band-Aid having dimensions of 6.3 cm wide and up to 45.7 cm long. Users had to cut the necessary length of the bandage to cover their wounds, a process considered “cumbersome.”
Quick improvements were implemented. Machine-produced Band-Aids in various sizes were introduced in 1924. Sterile bandages were launched in 1939. A thin vinyl version was released in 1958.
Band-Aid gained “international fans” as it followed millions of American soldiers to foreign battlefields during World War II. The involvement of the U.S. military on the Allied side boosted Band-Aid’s popularity.
Meanwhile, Earle Dickson passed away in Ontario, Canada, on September 21, 1961, at the age of 68. After his groundbreaking contributions, Dickson remained with Johnson & Johnson until his retirement in 1957. At the time of Earle Dickson’s death, Johnson & Johnson was selling $30 million worth of Band-Aids annually. According to Fox News, today Johnson & Johnson produces 10 million Band-Aids each day, equivalent to 117 units per second.
