How the Band-Aid was invented | Moments of Vision 3 - Jessica Oreck

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It is estimated that Johnson & Johnson have made an astounding 100 billion Band-Aids since they were invented in 1920. But where did the idea come from? In the third installment of our ‘Moments of Vision’ series, Jessica Oreck shares the series of moments that inspired Earle Dickson to invent these popular household bandages.

Lesson and animation by Jessica Oreck.

In a Moment of Vision...

It's the 1920s.

Johnson and Johnson is well-established

for their production of large,
cotton gauze dressings

that are sterile and sealed against germs,

a first of its kind.

An employee by the name of Earle Dickson

is recently married to a young,
rather accident-prone woman.

Her domestic cuts and burns are too minor
for the company's large surgical dressings

so Earle, in a moment of vision,

cuts a small square of the sterile gauze
and secures it to her finger

with an adhesive strip.

Earle is forced to make so many
of these bandages for his clumsy wife,

he devises a method for a small
production of them.

In order to keep the adhesive part
from sticking together,

he lines them with a crinoline fabric.

Johnson and Johnson begins production
of Earle's invention.

In a brilliant marketing move,

they distribute, for free, an unlimited
number of Band-Aids

to all the Boy Scout Troops
across America.

It doesn't take long for them to become
a household item.

It is estimated that Johnson and Johnson

has since made more than
100 billion Band-Aids.