Kilmer House

In the late 1940s, a very well-known American artist had a connection to Johnson & Johnson first aid products.  (And no, it wasn’t because the artist was accident-prone.)  This artist had paintings in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and her works were widely exhibited in other places.  The artist was Gladys Rockmore Davis, and she was a noted painter of children and other subjects. 

In 1948, Johnson & Johnson commissioned Davis to do a series of original paintings of children for an advertising campaign for the Company’s first aid products.  According to Madison Avenue, it was the first time that the works of a renowned artist were tied to advertising.  Since Gladys Rockmore Davis had started as an advertising illustrator before turning to fine art, and since her paintings used bold, rich colors and had wide appeal, she was a good choice for the ad campaign.

 1949 Saturday Evening Post Ad

The first ad in the series appeared full page, full color in Life magazine and the Saturday Evening Post in 1949.   Like other popular Johnson & Johnson ads, they struck a chord with the public and immediately set off a strong demand for reprints.  The Company received thousands of requests for the ad, and soon, copies of the Gladys Rockmore Davis ads were hanging in doctor’s offices, nurseries and kitchens across the United States.  The ad series ran for two years and included fifteen Gladys Rockmore Davis paintings.

Today, many of the Davis ads – and some of the original paintings — can be seen in offices and conference rooms throughout Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, an example of how appealing the paintings remain to this day. 

Johnson & Johnson has always paid very close attention to advertising and has a long history of campaigns that have captured public’s imagination, dating back to the Nineteen-teens and continuing to today with the “Having a Baby Changes Everything” advertisements.   The Gladys Rockmore Davis ads are a part of that tradition.
 

One of the most interesting organizations in the history of Johnson & Johnson was formed by employees in 1907.  One hundred years ago, women employees of Johnson & Johnson formed the Laurel Club for social and educational purposes.  The club’s charter, which was signed by its president, Nellie E. Rea, stated that the Laurel Club’s purpose was “…to create a center where all may find opportunities of enjoyment and education.”  (Laurel Club Charter, February 14, 1907). The Laurel Club had a basketball team, a Glee Club and a lending library, and provided lunches and dinners to members.  Monthly dues of 25 cents helped support the club’s charity work at New Brunswick orphanages.

Laurel Club Women’s Basketball Team, Circa 1907

Besides basketball, the Laurel Club also offered lawn and indoor tennis, music, dancing, and swimming, which was taught at the Company’s swimming pool.   The club gave classes in hygiene, dress making, embroidery, basket making and “physical culture,” or exercise.  Classes in English were held for employees who had recently immigrated to the U.S.  Scientific Director Fred Kilmer was a frequent guest at the club to give lectures on public hygiene and other subjects.

Laurel Club Dining Room

Lunches and dinners were provided for members, and cooking classes were held two evenings a week and were taught by a prominent New Brunswick caterer.  The meals were cooked on an electric stove donated by C. A. McCormick, the Johnson & Johnson Treasurer.  It was one of the first electric stoves in New Brunswick.  The club also held a baby clinic with a doctor, who gave advice to parents on how to care for their infants.

Undated Photo of Laurel Club Members of the “Entertaining Committee”

Aside from recreation and education, the Laurel Club saw the beginnings of the tradition of Johnson & Johnson employees volunteering in the community.  Its charter instructed that money was to be kept in the club’s account for “any act of kindness the club members may deem advisable.”

The Laurel Club invited 100 children from two local orphanages – St. Mary’s and the Children’s Industrial Home — to its December holiday parties, gave them dinner and distributed gift to them.  Club members bought hats, sweaters and mittens for the children annually.  An early Laurel Club Halloween Social raised $25 to buy a bed for Middlesex General Hospital.  And during World War I, Laurel Club members helped entertain wounded soldiers from the United States Hospital in Colonia, New Jersey, transporting them to the club’s headquarters for dinner and a dance.

Laurel Club Members with Injured World War I Soldiers

The Laurel Club existed only until 1925, but two of its important traditions – educational courses for employees and volunteering in the community – live on at Johnson & Johnson.

What did the New York Times Sunday Magazine and the Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary have in common with some of our early Johnson & Johnson publications?  Hint:  they shared a famous writer.

Joyce Kilmer

That writer was Joyce Kilmer, who is best known for his poem “Trees.” Joyce was the son of Johnson & Johnson scientific director Fred Kilmer.  Joyce (full name: Alfred Joyce Kilmer) was born in New Brunswick in 1886, the same year Johnson & Johnson was founded.  He was three years old when his father joined the Company, so like the children of Robert Wood Johnson the first, Joyce Kilmer grew up with Johnson & Johnson.   The Kilmer family had four children but tragically had lost three of them, which made them cherish their remaining child, Joyce, even more.  Joyce went to school at Rutgers Prep, where he was seven years ahead of Robert Wood Johnson (later to be known as General Johnson).  Joyce then attended Rutgers College for two years and completed his education at Columbia University, graduating in 1908.  He married a local girl from Metuchen, Aline Murray, who was also an accomplished poet and writer.  Joyce Kilmer’s abilities were inherited from both parents, and he grew up watching his father Fred Kilmer write countless scientific articles and publications on behalf of Johnson & Johnson.  After his graduation, Joyce made his living as a writer and editor.  During that time, he helped his father by contributing articles to some Johnson & Johnson publications, such as the RED CROSS NOTES. 

Like Seward Johnson, Joyce Kilmer served in World War I.  He was assigned to the “Fighting 69th” Infantry Regiment and then to the 165th Regiment, where he earned the rank of Sergeant.  Joyce volunteered for dangerous duties and in 1918 transferred to the Regimental Intelligence Section, in which he went on scouting missions.  It was on one such scouting mission in France that Joyce Kilmer was killed on July 30, 1918, in the ending days of World War I.  He was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government.

Annie Kilmer Holding Photograph of Joyce Kilmer (L), and Fred Kilmer (R)

The Kilmer family – Joyce’s wife Aline, their children, and parents Fred and Annie — were devastated.  At Johnson & Johnson, Fred Kilmer threw himself even further into his work while Annie Kilmer worked tirelessly to keep Joyce’s memory alive.  She made numerous appearances at area schools to read his poetry and talk to students about her son.  Here’s a website by Joyce’s granddaughter (and Fred Kilmer’s great-granddaughter) that has photos and more information about Joyce Kilmer. 

There are numerous parks, buildings and other sites throughout New Jersey and the U.S. named after Joyce Kilmer.  At Johnson & Johnson, the Kilmer name commemorates Joyce’s father, Fred Kilmer, our scientific director in the early years of the Company. 

Fred Kilmer’s Signature (“F.B. Kilmer”) on a Letter from our Archives