Earle Dickson
Earle Dickson | |
|---|---|
 Earle Dickson as a young man | |
| Born | October 9, 1892 Grandview, Tennessee, United States |
| Died | September 21, 1961 (aged 68) Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
| Spouse | Josephine Knight |
| Engineering career | |
| Institutions | Johnson & Johnson |
| Projects | BAND-AID adhesive bandages |
Earle Dickson (October 10, 1892—September 21, 1961) was an American inventor best known for inventing adhesive bandages in the US. He lived in Highland Park, New Jersey, for a large portion of his life.
Biography
[edit]Dickson was a cotton buyer at the Johnson & Johnson company.[1] His wife, Josephine Knight, often cut herself while doing housework and cooking.[2] Dickson found that gauze placed on a wound with tape did not stay on her active fingers. In 1920, he placed squares of gauze in intervals on a roll of tape, held in place with crinoline.[2] James Wood Johnson, his boss, liked the idea and put it into production. In 1924, Johnson & Johnson installed machines to mass-produce the once handmade bandages. At first, the product sold poorly, with only $3000 worth of bandaids sold because individuals did not know how to use them. To promote sales, they sent out salesmen to show the people how to use them, and sales eventually rose. Following the commercial success of his design, Dickson was promoted to vice president.
References
[edit]- ↑ Antonelli, Paola (2005) Humble masterpieces: everyday marvels of design HarperCollins, New York, page 175, ISBN 0-06-083831-0
- 1 2 Staff (1964) "The Story Behind Band-Aid Brand" Changing Times; The Kiplinger Magazine December 1964: p. 32
External links
[edit]- "BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages Beginnings", Johnson & Johnson (website) (Internet Archive).
- "BAND-AID® Brand: A History of Innovation", Johnson & Johnson (website).
- "Earle Dickson: Band-Aids®", Inventor Archive, Lemuelson-MIT Program.
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