Kitchen burns: The trigger behind the invention of Band-Aid  

The first thing you run for after you cut your finger accidently is a Band-Aid. It would immediately help you in covering the wounded area keeping it clean and preventing any infection. The best thing is you don’t need anyone else’s assistance to tape it.  And it comes cheap. But when did this lifesaver come into the picture? Who thought of this idea? Let us take you through its history.  

Band-Aid - A result of kitchen burns  
The Band-Aid was developed in 1921 by Earle Dickson, a Johnson & Johnson employee in New Jersey, US for his wife Josephine. Josephine would often cut and burn her fingers while cooking. While this may sound like no big deal today, back then, there weren’t many options available for the self-management of minor injuries instantly and hygienically while also doing the household chores. Dickson realised that his wife needed something that would be flexible and sterile and allow her to dress her own wounds.  

The bandages available at the time made from gauze wrapping and applied adhesive would not stick to the wounds for long. So, Dickson had to experiment with different materials.  

Dickson got home some J&J antiseptic cotton gauze and surgical adhesive tape. He took a strip of the tape and laid a slightly narrower piece of gauze lengthwise in the middle. He then used crinoline fabric (a stiff fabric) to cover the surface to avoid it from sticking to itself. Folding the whole thing into a neat roll, he presented his wife with a ready solution to her everyday problem. What she needed to do was unfold the roll, and cut it into the size she wanted to, and quickly cover her kitchen mishaps. 

Need of the hour  
The product worked well with Josephine and so Dickson thought of sharing the idea with his boss, who quickly saw its worth. He ordered a small test batch of what was dubbed as  BAND-AID® Brand adhesive bandages. Next, the company sold them to pharmacists to see if the product would sell. They did but it took some time.  

From rolls to strips  
When this product went on the market in 1921, for the first few years, they were hand-made and packaged exactly as Dickson had invented them — a roll that you had to cut with scissors according to requirements. People had to be taught how to use it. Though J&J did the demos to show but they did not make that well a mark. It wasn’t until 1924, that the company began selling them in the way we use them today: Pre-cut and individually wrapped. This was possible due to the machinery the company created to mass-produce the bandages. Next development came in 1939 when it started selling sterilised Band-Aids. 

War brings commercial success  
The product found its mass scale use only during the second world war when millions of these first aid items were shipped overseas, helping popularise the product. Once it was popular in 1951, the first set of decorative Band-Aids were introduced with such attractive themes as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Superman, Spider-Man,  Rocket Power,  Rugrats, smiley faces,  Barbie, Dora the Explorer, Elmo, and Batman. These were and continue to be huge commercial successes.