The Earliest Products
Aseptic gauze and cotton were among the first Johnson & Johnson products. Many of these early products were impregnated with antiseptic agents or medication, and sealed in glass or metal containers to keep them sterile. These antiseptic gauzes and cottons helped revolutionize surgical care by greatly reducing mortality rates from surgical infection. Many of the names of the Company’s early products, such as the ones above, were descriptive of the product or its ingredients. Others — such as Dr. Grosvenor’s Bellcapsic Plaster — were named after physicians who contributed ideas for new products to the Company.
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The insight into early product history is fascinating; can you say whether you’ll be tracking product history up to the modern era?
Some of us trivia buffs would actually be quite interested in “history of the band-aid” from then to now, including adhesive changes, movement from (presumably) fabric to plastic backing, and so forth…
Thanks!
We’re really going to be concentrating on historical products as opposed to modern ones. If you’re interested in the history of BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages, here’s a good timeline that should satisfy all of the trivia buffs: http://www.band-aid.com/history.do
I have an old dental floss holder that has Johnson Brothers on it. It is clear glass with a stainless steel top. I am interested in finding out when it was used by johnson brothers
Sharon,
Johnson & Johnson started manufacturing dental floss in small glass containers with metal tops in 1916. So your dental floss container is from 1916-1920s (So far, I don’t have a specific ending date for the glass container packaging.)
Can you tell me who invented the packaging for the band aid box? Why sell them in tin boxes? Who thought up the packaging design? Were they always packaged that way? Did Johnson and Johnson know that folks would collect the tin flip-top band aid boxes?
The first BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages came onto the market in 1921, and were sold in a flat, square cardboard box. In 1926, they were first packaged in tins. During World War II, due to wartime conservation, we went back to cardboard packaging for a few years. The Company continued with the metal tins until we switched to cardboard in the 1990s. Earle Dickson, a cotton buyer for Johnson & Johnson, invented the BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandage in 1920 to help his wife, who cut herself frequently in the kitchen and needed a ready-made bandage she could apply herself. We don’t have a record of who came up with the packaging design, but historically, many products (JOHNSON’S® Baby Powder, dental floss, medicated plasters) were packaged in tins, many of which were beautifully decorated. The people at Johnson & Johnson didn’t know the tins would become collectible, but they were sturdy and easy to re-use, so they became part of people’s homes and workshops.
I have a collection of over 400 different band-aid tins. One of my favorites is a Johnson & Johnson tin that is only one-third the height of a normal band-aid tin. It looks like the vertical part of the tin was cut in thirds (complete with chopped off graphics), and the top and bottom applied to them, making three tins out of what was intended to be one. A friend of mine told me that J&J did that during war time to save money. It’s a neat story, but I wonder if it is really true. If it is true, I haven’t found the middle and bottom thirds used yet.
Richard,
Over 400 tins — that’s a fabulous collection! The BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages tin with chopped off graphics that you described sounds interesting, but doesn’t sound like something that Johnson & Johnson would have produced, since we were always very careful about properly displaying the product’s complete name and graphics on the packaging. Throughout the BAND-AID® Brand’s history, the tins have come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The first ones starting in 1921 were flat and square, and later some were round like canisters. During World War II Johnson & Johnson didn’t cut down existing tins but in 1943 went temporarily to cardboard packaging for BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages. This was due to shortages of material to make the tins because of the war effort. If you send me a picture of the tin, I would be happy to take a look at it. You can find a link to email me on the blog’s “About the Author” page.
Margaret
Hello Margaret,
I recently posted a comment/question about an old, short Band-Aid tin. You asked me to send you a picture of the particular tin in question, which I did. However, after three tries on your e-mail address, it still fails. How can I e-mail you??
Richard
Hi Richard,
Sorry about the e-mail. I thought I had gotten that fixed… If the Kilmer House mailbox isn’t working, you can try my other e-mail address: mgurowi@its.jnj.com. I will also try to e-mail you and if you reply to that and include the photo, that should work.
Margaret
i have an alumminum tin measuring 3.5″ x 2″ x3/4″ thick,it is engraved with,,,,Wood’s ligature,,,,johnson @ johnson New brunswick,New Jersey.can you give me any info on this item,thank you
Hi Roy,
What you have is a package that would have contained glass vials of sterile ligatures used to close incisions in surgery. Woods Ligatures first appeared in our price list in 1905, and were packaged in solution in sealed glass vials to keep them sterile. The vials were then packaged in an outer container. Glass vials of Woods Ligatures are pictured in some of our early price lists packaged 12 to a box. The box was usually depicted as cardboard, so yours is a variant with sturdier outer packaging. For instance, many of our wartime medical products during World War I were packaged that way and it’s likely that your tin may be a wartime product. Without any more information or a picture of your tin, it’s hard to be more precise.
Hope that proves helpful,
Margaret
Margaret -
I am a retired 26 year employee of J&J who has an extensive collection of J&J antique medical products.
Is there a web site or contact where I can locate information on some of the many products I have acquired?
If any of my collection is truly rare, could I some day donate items to J&J to fill out their collection?
Here are some of the items which may be rare. I can attach photos to interested parties.
* Papoid Therapeutical Notes on the use of PAPOID
* Belladona Plaster tin sold by Johnson & Johnson Operative Chemists New York
* Carton of 1 pound of Johnson & Johnson OAKUM
* Flat tin of Listers Tooth Soap
* Bottles Of Johnson & Johnson Lime Water, Boric Acid ,Olive Oil and Castor Oil
* Silk Ligatures Carbolized Twisted Assorted Sizes (on 3 spools in a single bottle)
* Sulphur Fumigators carton of 6
Plus many other J&J items.
I also have a collection of Seabury’s and Seabury’s/Johnson antique products.
William Berg
William,
Wow — it certainly sounds as if you have a great collection! Not only Johnson & Johnson products, but Seabury & Johnson as well! If you are interested in more information about your products, I will be happy to provide it. And if you would like someday to donate products to our archives and museum, we would gladly accept the donation. I will look up the products you mentioned in your email and email you more information on them. You can also email me either through the blog (the email link is on the About the Author page) or at mgurowi@its.jnj.com
Margaret
i have a johnson and johnson first aid kit no. 20 wooden box in great condition
it says wartime container made in the usa
inside it has tongue depresors by johnson and johnson
metaphen by johnson and johnson
guaze bandage and red cross bandages
aromatic spirit of ammonia
esmarch triangular bandage
polysporin
poison ivy wash
muslin finger cots
i have no idea as to value of this item, was thinking about running it on ebay
any help would be appreciated, as i can not find anything like it on line to get a true idea of value
Hi Julie,
Without seeing pictures of the first aid kit and its contents I can’t give you a date. The fact that it’s a First Aid Kit No. 20 in a wooden box with an Esmarch Triangular Bandage would lead me to think it could potentially be an older wartime first aid kit, but you mentioned it contains Polysporin, which was not on the market until the 1970s, according to information I’ve seen. Where did you find the first aid kit? Is it possible that some of the contents are not original and were added later? Would you be able to email me some photographs of the kit through the blog’s email? You can find the link to the email on the “About the Author” page of the blog.
Thanks,
Margaret
Hi Margaret,
I have found a J&J first aid kit for sale, it is a No. 16 kit. Is this kit from the 1930’s?
Thanks
Mark
908-246-0585
Mark,
We did make the No. 16 First Aid kits during the 1930s, so your kit is most likely from that era. They first appeared in our price list in 1935, and had bandages, gauze, cotton, Drybak adhesive plaster, a bottle of spirits of ammonia, scissors, First Aid Manual, Drybak BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages and paper cups, among other supplies. Without seeing a picture of your First Aid Kit, it’s hard to tell, but it’s probably a 1930s First Aid Kit.
Margaret
Thanks Margaret…Would you please look at the photo of the kit on the following site and give me your opinion as to its authenticity.
Thanks
Mark
http://www.rubylane.com/shops/fallsavenue/item/RL915
Mark,
It looks like a nice kit. That is definitely the No. 16 First Aid kit from the 1930s, with most of the contents. Johnson & Johnson sold replacement contents for all of its First Aid Kits, and people bought replacement supplies as they used up the old ones over time. They would keep the metal kit and just replace supplies as needed. That would explain, for instance, the more recent bandages in an older metal kit.
Margaret
Hi Margaret,
I am learning more about J&J kits than I thought I would ever want to know. I am trying to find a kit that was supplied with my 1936 airplane. Few people, if any now, know what the kit was, but one document I just found said it was a J&J kit. No kit number was listed, but it thought to be a tin kit measuring about 6″ by 4″ by 2″ high. Do you have a listing of 1930 kits made by J&J that would list the size of the tin box? That might help me narrow down the search for something that would be close.
Thanks
Mark
Hi Mark,
It sounds like your original kit may have been an Aerokit, which was a Johnson & Johnson First Aid Kit that was manufactured starting in the early 1930s. Our price lists don’t include the dimensions of the kit, but we have an Aerokit in our museum and it’s around the right size. They were smaller kits designed for airplanes, and the early Aerokits were black metal containers with gold lettering. The contents included: two muslin bandages, Drybak Adhesive Plaster, two ampoules of spirits of ammonia, a pair of scissors, A First Aid Manual, a burn dressing backet, a tourniquet, six Drybak BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages and two paper drinking cups.
Best of luck on your search!
Margaret
Wow! Margaret that is great info. Would you know where I might be able to aquire an Aerokit?
Thanks so much,
Mark
Mark,
Your best bet would be to keep checking auction sites like eBay (I have seen them occasionally come up there), or antique dealers — especially if there are any who deal with aviation-related items, or medical/consumer products. Also, if there are any sites on which you could post an inquiry (vintage Johnson & Johnson Aerokit First Aid Kit from the 1930s wanted), that would probably be helpful too. If you know any antique dealers or antique stores, you could probably also ask them to keep a look out for an Aerokit for you.
Best of luck!
Margaret
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for the advise and to help in my search, would you please send me a copy of any literature or information you have detailing the 1930’s Aerokit. Any advertisements for the kit?
Thanks
Mark
stewartmw@aol.com
Mark,
I will look through our archives and see if we have anything. I will let you know!
Margaret
I have a poster for a product called ‘Zon Weiss’ toothpowder that was manufactured by J&J. I would love to find a box to match my print.
Thank you,
Sue
Hi Sue,
Sorry I took so long to get back to you on this: even bloggers sometimes take a vacation during the holiday season! Zonweiss was one of our earliest products (first appeared in our 1887 price list) and the name means “white teeth” in German. The Zonweiss ads were very beautiful — with hand-drawn illustrations from Gulliver’s Travels, fairy tales and mythology. You’re very fortunate to have a poster of one of the ads! The actual product first appeared in small glass jars as a tooth powder. The jars came with a little spoon to use to put the powder on your toothbrush. The product later moved to collapsible tubes, like modern toothpaste — it was one of the first to do so. Your best bet would be to keep checking antique stores (especially the ones that carry old products or ephemera) and online auction sites like eBay. Here’s more information on Zonweiss and its ads, if you’re interested: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/?p=59
This one is about the Zonweiss ads: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/?p=177
Best of luck in your search!
Margaret