Kilmer House

Robert Wood Johnson A recent post talked about Robert Wood Johnson and Johnson & Johnson being at the forefront of the debate about the need for higher wages and reduced hours to increase consumer spending and get the unemployed back to work during the Great Depression.  (In case you haven’t read that post, Robert Wood Johnson advocated for higher wages and shorter hours than the New Deal proposals were suggesting.)  Johnson implemented his ideas at Johnson & Johnson and, when his ideas worked, he tried in vain to interest the Roosevelt administration and other industrialists.  His fr

This year marks a very significant anniversary at Johnson & Johnson:  the 70th anniversary of Our Credo, the business philosophy that guides Johnson & Johnson.  Written in 1943 by General Robert Wood Johnson and presented to the Board of Directors in December of that year, Our Credo is one of the earliest statements of corporate social responsibility, drafted almost three quarters of a century ago. But the origins of Our Credo actually go back much further than December of 1943.  In fact, they go back to 1935 -- and back even further to the founding of Johnson & Johnson. The firs

The year 2014 is a big year in New Jersey, the state in which Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886.   This year is New Jersey’s 350th anniversary and, as part of the celebrations, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is counting down the Top 25 innovators in New Jersey history.  Number nine on that list – which so far also includes inventors, scientists, astronauts, entrepreneurs and activists – is General Robert Wood Johnson. The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is revealing the name of one New Jersey innovator each week, counting down to the organization’s October 27th Gala, at which they

Robert Wood Johnson (seated in center) and  Employees In my last post, I mentioned that Robert Wood Johnson, son of one of the Company’s founders, was able to put many of his ideas about running a business into practice when he became president of Johnson & Johnson in 1932.  Having grown up around Johnson & Johnson, even accompanying his father to business meetings as a child, the younger Robert Wood Johnson had very definite ideas about business and social responsibility.  What made his opportunity to implement those ideas particularly challenging was the fact that it was during the

General Robert Wood Johnson, the author of Our Credo and a tremendously creative and far-seeing business leader, was once asked to define business.  He came up with a three-word definition:  “business is people.”  Johnson explained that the things most people thought of when they thought of a business:  buildings, equipment, products, were all elements of a business, but it was the people – our employees, with all of their ideas and expertise – who actually were the business and brought the business to life.  In celebration of this Labor Day, here’s a look at some of the many women and men who

No Johnson & Johnson heritage vacation would be complete without a vintage Johnson & Johnson Vacation First Aid Kit.  This one is from 1942.  Image: Johnson & Johnson Archives. With summer officially here, families’ thoughts turn to getting away from their daily routines and going on vacation. But vacation time doesn’t mean you have to miss out on Johnson & Johnson’s rich heritage! Because the company has touched so many lives in so many locations for more than 130 years, many places have surprising connections to Johnson & Johnson. With this handy guide, you can make sure

What do General Robert Wood Johnson, Frank Sinatra, Albert Einstein, Bruce Springsteen and Toni Morrison all have in common?  They are among the first group of inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Yesterday (May 4th) General Robert Wood Johnson was among the first group of New Jersey citizens inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, sharing the occasion with other notable New Jerseyans Harriet Tubman, Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein, Clara Barton, Frank Sinatra, Buzz Aldrin, Yogi Berra, Malcolm Forbes, Vince Lombardi, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Toni Morrison, Bruce Springsteen,

A recent column commemorating Sir Joseph Lister’s April 5th birthday opened with this startling statement:  “Joseph Lister, who was born this week (April 5) in 1827, was an amazing physician but a poor salesman.”  [“Lister's Life Saving Discovery, by Bruce Kauffmann, Telegraph Herald, Dubuque, IA and the Appeal-Democrat in Marysville, CA]  It may have taken some time to inspire skeptical surgeons in the late 1800s, but Lister did inspire two people who were very good at spreading the word, and they took up the cause of making surgery sterile:  Robert Wood Johnson and Fred Kilmer. Robert Wood

Throughout its history, Johnson & Johnson has published a wide variety of information designed to educate doctors and surgeons, the public, and parents.  We also published information for retail pharmacists for several decades, in the form of a trade publication called the RED CROSS® Messenger.  It educated pharmacists about the Company, its products, and about how to increase their business.  And according to that publication, one of the most important things a retail pharmacist could do was to decorate the pharmacy window. An issue of The RED CROSS® Messenger The RED CROSS® Messenger was

The inventor of the commercial electric light bulb.  The innovators behind the personal computer.  The inventor of the telephone.  The Hollywood movie star who pioneered technology that made wireless communication possible.  The botanist who revolutionized American agriculture.  And now, Johnson & Johnson’s Earle Dickson.  What do all of them have in common?  They have been inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame! The National Inventor’s Hall of Fame honors individuals whose inventions have made the world a better place, while celebrating the rich innovation history of the Unite