Kilmer House

Here’s another special behind the scenes video tour of some lesser known items from Johnson & Johnson history.  If you’ve ever wondered where the last loading dock for horse drawn wagons at Johnson & Johnson is located, which unusual 1960s fashion was made by one of our operating companies, why we once made doll clothing, and how we got from medicated plasters to JOHNSON’S® Baby Powder, you’ll know the answers to all of those questions after you watch this post.   You’ll also be able to see -- for the first time -- letters from two of our founders written

Here’s a quick quiz.  From the description of this Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies product, would the consumer using it be more likely to be listening to music on an MP3 player, or cranking up one of those old fashioned gramophones?  The product is a liquid bandage that’s applied with an applicator.  It forms a transparent, waterproof coating that keeps small wounds covered while they heal, and it won’t wash off with soap and water.  Any guesses?  Here’s the answer:  get that gramophone out of the museum, because the product was Cotolia Liquid Court Plas

What do Johnson & Johnson and the Coca-Cola Company have in common?  For starters, they were both founded in 1886.   But there’s also something else you might not know:  for a short while, in the late 1800s, Johnson & Johnson made a cola drink. In an earlier post, I mentioned some of the lesser-known and more unusual products made by Johnson & Johnson in its earliest days.  One of my favorites is Vino Kolafra, which was a tonic preparation made from cola nut extract in a sherry wine base.  It was made by a small subsidiary, the Brunswick Pharmacal Com

Most people today probably use an antibacterial soap at home.  In the Nineteen-teens, before the vaccine era, a germ-killing soap was even more of a necessity to help combat disease and keep people healthy.   Around 1900, U.S. doctors asked Johnson & Johnson to make a disinfectant soap that would help them wash their hands, disinfect instruments, and keep patients clean.  The Company’s response was Synol Soap.  Johnson & Johnson frequently made products that served unmet needs in health care, such as the first First Aid products.  This philosophy went back to the Company’s first-ever

Along with its more famous products, the Company made some lesser-known and more unusual products in its early days. One of these products was Vino Kolafra, a restorative tonic made from kola nut extract with a sherry base. The formation of the Coca-Cola Company in 1893 and its subsequent advertising campaigns helped spark interest in tonic preparations among the population of the United States. Johnson & Johnson introduced Vino Kolafra in 1894, advertising it as a calmer of nerves, an imparter of strength, a convalescent aid and as encouraging workers to “do more work with less effort an