When Earle Dickson (1892-1961) invented the Band-Aid, treatments for minor cuts and scrapes were dicey.
At the time, in 1920, "there were no good options for bandaging such small injuries hygienically," said Margaret Gurowitz, chief historian for Johnson & Johnson, in a Dec. 26, 2018, company article. And the world still awaited antibiotics to fight infections.
That was a real problem for Dickson. His wife, Josephine, often got bruises and burns while doing kitchen chores. With an idea born out of love, Dickson, a resourceful cotton buyer for Johnson & Johnson, decided to solve his wife's problem on his own. Using the company's sterile surgical products, Dickson designed a makeshift covering for Josephine's injuries. After a few iterations, it eventually evolved into the iconic Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages. And with that, Dickson revolutionized first aid.
"His success resulted in the first commercial dressing for small wounds that consumers could apply with ease, and created a market that continues to thrive today," said a statement announcing Dickson's 2017 induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the adhesive bandage.
Solve A Problem Like Earle Dickson
Dickson's invention solved his wife's problem with a bandage she could apply herself. It also filled a universal need for quality accessible wound care at home.
"The adhesive bandage went on to have a very large impact and became very widespread in use and recognized around the world," said Rini Paiva, executive vice president for selection and recognition at the NIHF. "It had such a wide ranging and large impact it was something our selection committee is going to take notice of. The selection committee found it was appropriate to recognize him."
Dickson parlayed his game-changing achievement into a successful career as a corporate leader. The Band-Aid became a lucrative product for Johnson & Johnson. Following the commercial success of his design, Johnson & Johnson promoted him to vice president. And he eventually joined the company's board of directors.
Protect Your Work Like Dickson
Dickson held five patents, all related to his work on bandages and dressings. When he died in 1961, total sales from Band-Aid bandages were estimated to be more than $30 million, according to the NIHF.
And since the Band-Aid hit the commercial market first in 1921, it has maintained its leadership spot. It does this by applying Dickson's model of "consistently evolving its innovation pipeline to stay relevant with both new and loyal audiences," said a statement by Band-Aid Brand adhesive bandages owner Kenvue. Kenvue is the consumer health care business Johnson & Johnson spun off in 2023.
"As the No. 1 doctor and dermatologist recommended wound care brand, Band-Aid brand products are trusted by experts and provide consumers with peace of mind on their self-care journeys," said Kenvue citing a February 2025 IQVIA survey.
Stress Your Positive Traits
Dickson had many traits that propelled his success as a leading inventor and innovator. He solved problems.
"Innovators and inventors have that characteristic of wanting to solve problems," Paiva told IBD. "Because he (Dickson) had this interest in solving the problem his wife had at home with cuts and mishaps, he proactively sought to find a way to solve a problem for her. In this case he was not only trying to solve a problem, but he was also solving it for his wife."
And Dickson didn't just find the solution to his wife's problem. He persisted until he conquered a common problem.
"Great inventors solve a critical social or environmental problem in a way that's usable to the average person," said Rob Schneider, executive director of The Lemelson Foundation, which aims to improve lives with inventions. "A Band-Aid is a perfect example. It solves a need."
Work Hard
But it took hard work, resourcefulness and a sharp focus on his goal for Dickson to achieve success.
"What made him exceptional as an inventor was being so resourceful and so smart in figuring out what resources to use," said Paiva. "A big part of that story is he had the drive and motivation to see this product become a success. He went on to have a very successful career at the company."
Dickson's journey to success began with determination. He drew on skills as a leader and visionary with an "aha" moment, says the Johnson & Johnson article. Dickson wasted no time executing on his idea, pulling upon resources he had. He tapped into the company's treasure chest of products to design the bandage.
"He was smart in looking at resources he had on hand," said Paiva. Dickson "worked for Johnson & Johnson as a cotton buyer and cotton was available for him. He didn't realize it at the time, but it (cotton) could be used to manufacture a product. It took a few years to get there. It's an incredible success story for how widely popular this consumer product became."
Take Measured Moves
Dickson took a step-by-step approach. To test his idea he brought home a selection of antiseptic cotton gauze and surgical adhesive tape, which were made by the company.
"He took a strip of tape that was 18 inches long by 3 inches wide, and laid a slightly narrower piece of gauze lengthwise down the middle," said the Johnson & Johnson article. "He then covered the surface with a crinoline fabric to keep it from sticking to itself, and folded up the whole thing into a neat roll that his wife could keep at the ready."
His wife just needed to unfold the roll, and cut off as much adhesive bandage as she needed to cover her wounds and help keep them clean.
Dickson moved to take the bandage beyond the test phase. After seeing the product working so well for his wife, he tapped into his entrepreneurial instincts. He shared the invention with his boss, "who quickly recognized its potential," the article said.
Test And Improve
Soon after, Johnson & Johnson manufactured a small test batch of what it dubbed Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages. It sold them to pharmacists to see if they would catch on.
It took some doing to get there.
"The product got off to a slow start because it was such a novel idea and people had to be taught how to use it," said Gurowitz in the article, adding that first-year sales were only $3,000. "But Johnson & Johnson recognized that it filled a great unmet need in consumer care and stuck with it, tapping the company's traveling salesmen to help demonstrate the product to doctors and retail pharmacists across the country."
Soon after, in 1921, Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages officially hit the commercial market. For the first few years they were made by hand and packaged exactly as Dickson had invented them — in a roll you trimmed with scissors, says the article.
Harness Technology And Simplicity
In 1924, Johnson & Johnson began selling the product in the precut and individually wrapped form known today.
"Once people realized how effective the bandages were, they became a trusted household product — and that's continued for generations," Gurowitz said in the article. "These days, you'd be hard-pressed to find a person in the U.S. who has not used a Band-Aid brand adhesive bandage."
Why was the Band-Aid such an overwhelming success? It took Dickson's ingenuity and commitment to invent a product like the Band-Aid, which wasn't your run-of-the-mill commodity bandage.
"For an invention to be successful, its use has to be obvious to whomever is using it," said Schneider of The Lemelson Foundation. "It sells itself."
"The solutions don't have to be super complicated," he adds. "The most effective solutions are those that are invented by those who are close to the problems. That was the case here."
Make Your Products Simple To Use
Another key to the product's universal appeal is the fact that it's accessible, anywhere, any time.
What made the invention so successful was "just the fact it provided the bandages that were a convenient and safe way to deal with this array of fairly minor cuts," said Paiva of the NIHF. "It's also the fact that there was this achievement of an easy way to apply first aid for these kinds of small injuries at home."
These bandages could be applied so easily, she says. "Another part of it is ... they could easily be applied by oneself or an adult with a child. Children get all these minor cuts. But it was an adult who was the catalyst for the idea in the first place."
Earle Dickson's Keys
- Invented Band-Aid Brand adhesive bandages, the first commercial dressing for small wounds that consumers could apply with ease. Rose to vice president and board member at Johnson & Johnson.
- Overcame: the challenges of inventing a new product and selling a novel product to the public.
- Lesson: Great inventions often arise to solve an important need.
