Earle Dickson

Who was Earle Dickson?

Earle Dickson was an American inventor best known for creating Band-Aid® brand adhesive bandages. He lived in Highland Park, New Jersey for a large portion of his life.

Dickson was a cotton buyer at the Johnson & Johnson company. His wife, Josephine Knight, often cut herself while doing housework and cooking. Dickson found that the gauze stuck to a wound with tape didn't stay on her active fingers. In 1920, he placed squares of gauze in intervals on a roll of tape, held in place with crinoline. 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. Following the commercial success of his design, Dickson was promoted to vice president.