Kilmer House

Sunday, May 13th is Mother’s Day in the U.S. and in many other countries.  Most countries celebrate some form of Mother’s Day, with celebrations ranging from February for Norway to December for Panama and Indonesia.  In the U.S., Mother’s Day has been celebrated nationally since a 1914 proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.  Since then, it’s been an opportunity to celebrate the central role that mothers play in their family’s lives.  In recognition of that, advertising from the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies has reflected the special role of mothers for

Since it earliest days, Johnson & Johnson has made products in response to a variety of needs in society.  Some of these products – sterile surgical dressings and sutures, the first First Aid Kits, an antibacterial soap to combat infection, were discussed widely.  But there was one equally obvious need that no one wanted to talk about, even though products to address it made life easier for roughly half the population.  And that was the need for the first mass produced women’s sanitary products.  Women in the 1920s Buying MODESS® Before the era of commercially ava

Game shows.  Moustaches.  Hollywood movie studios.  Doll clothing.  They can’t all be connected to Johnson & Johnson…or can they?  Of course, they can!  Read on to discover seven more things you didn’t know about J&J. 1.    In the mid-1950s, iconic comedian and television pioneer Imogene Coca advertised the Company’s first aid products on television, as part of Johnson & Johnson’s “Emergencies Don’t Wait” campaign.  Here’s a photo of her overreacting in horror to the fact that her medicine cabinet is lacking first aid supplies…something that the Company hoped to remedy with its 19

Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886.  But this product – our oldest – dates from 1879.    How is that possible?  And what’s more, how did a product that started as a surgical disinfectant end up as a mouthwash? The product is LISTERINE® Antiseptic, and it became part of our consumer product portfolio with the acquisition of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare in 2006.  Despite its recent tenure with the Company, our new oldest product has something in common with the first products made by Johnson & Johnson:  it was inspired by Sir Joseph Lister.  Sir

This month, Johnson & Johnson launched a new global brand equity campaign  called Johnson & Johnson For All You Love.  The campaign, which includes television commercials and print advertising, reminds people of the positive impact of caring, and celebrates the ways in which people care for loved ones every day and over the course of a lifetime.  Caring is a theme that has grown naturally from what we do, and it’s been a theme of our advertising throughout Johnson & Johnson history.   Caring is a focus that goes back 127 years at Johnson & Johnson.  From our start in 1886 as

Infographics are everywhere today.  They’re colorful, easy to understand, they present information in a graphic, entertaining way, and they appeal to people who learn better visually rather than through the written word alone. If you need to educate and entertain at the same time, then infographics are your tool of choice.  But how could you educate people visually before the modern era of infographics?  You could do a comic book -- and that’s just what the LISTERINE® Brand did during the Silver Age of comics in 1956. LISTERINE® Antiseptic: comic book hero. The Silver Age of comics began in 1

Commercial television made its debut in 1939 as one of the innovations at the 1939 World’s Fair.  The fair’s opening was televised, complete with a speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- the first U.S. President to appear on television.  But television really didn’t take off until the early 1950s, when advances in technology made TV programs easier to produce and much more watchable.  Many advertisers initially were cautious about taking advantage of this new medium, but Johnson & Johnson, having been a creative advertiser throughout its history, made an early decision to become

In 1908 Johnson & Johnson completed an addition to the “New” Red Cross Cotton Mill.  The mill had been built in 1901 and just a few short years later, it needed to be expanded due to the growth of the surgical dressings, cotton and gauze business and the need for extra manufacturing capacity.   As was its tradition, the Company held a reception and dance for employees to inaugurate the new building…on the evening of Friday, October 2, 1908 from 8:00 pm to midnight.  Let’s step back to that evening 100 years ago and take a look. According to Oct. 3, 1908 edition of The

Eight models wearing Charles James gowns, in French & Company's eighteenth century French paneled room. Charles James Ball Gowns, 1948. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Cecil Beaton/Vogue/Condé Nast Archive. Copyright © Condé Nast. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York just launched Charles James: Beyond Fashion, a new exhibit at its Costume Institute.  James, one of the 20th century’s most innovative fashion designers, was a man ahead of his time.  Some of his gorgeous dresses were featured in a series of ads by Johnson & Johnson during the 1940s that sol

Many people remember Little Golden Books from their childhoods. They’re small, filled with lots of colorful illustrations, and have short, heartwarming stories for young children.  Everybody probably had a favorite Little Golden Book when they were little: The Three Little Kittens, The Fuzzy Duckling, Scuffy the Tugboat, Little Red Riding Hood, The Saggy Baggy Elephant…and the one about BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages.  Wait a second…the one about WHAT? Cover of Doctor Dan the Bandage Man, courtesy of Little Golden Books You read correctly: the one about BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive B