1920

Invention of Band-Aid adhesive bandage by Earle Dickson, a cotton buyer at Johnson & Johnson, in response to his wife’s kitchen cuts and burns. First commercial Band-Aids were made by hand and sold in sheets 3” wide and 18” long; they had to be cut to size. In 1924, manufacture was automated, and J&J began producing individually wrapped singles in different sizes. In 1926, a small red strip to open the wrapper was added and cardboard containers were replaced with tin.