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Band-Aid

 
Band Aid

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Band-Aid



 
 
Band-Aid is the brand name for Johnson & Johnson's
Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a global United States pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
 line of adhesive bandage
Adhesive bandage

An adhesive bandage is a small dressing used for injuries not serious enough to require a full-size bandage....
s and related products.






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Bandaid
Bandaid
Bandaid
Band-Aid is the brand name for Johnson & Johnson's
Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a global United States pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
 line of adhesive bandage
Adhesive bandage

An adhesive bandage is a small dressing used for injuries not serious enough to require a full-size bandage....
s and related products. It has also become something of a genericized trademark
Genericized trademark

A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquialism or generic description for a general class of Good or Service , rather than the specific meaning intended by the trademark's holder....
 for any adhesive bandage among the consuming public in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
 and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
.

"Band-aid" has also entered usage as a term for any temporary fix. (e.g. "Band-aid solutions were used to fix the leak.")

History

The Band-Aid was invented in 1921 by Earle Dickson
Earle Dickson

Earle Dickson was an United States inventor best known for creating BAND-AID brand Sticking plaster.Dickson was an employee at the Johnson & Johnson company....
, an employee of Johnson & Johnson, for his wife Josephine, who frequently cut and burned herself while cooking.The prototype product allowed his wife to dress her wounds without assistance. Dickson, a Highland Park, New Jersey
Highland Park, New Jersey

Highland Park is a Borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 13,999....
, resident at the time, passed the idea on to his employer who then went on to produce and market the product as the Band-Aid. Dickson had a successful career at Johnson & Johnson eventually becoming a Vice President before his retirement in 1957.

The first bandages produced were hand-made and not very popular. By 1924, Johnson & Johnson introduced the first machine that produced sterilized
Sterilization (microbiology)

Sterilization refers to any process that effectively kills or eliminates transmissible agents from a surface, equipment, article of food or medication, or biological culture medium....
 Band-Aids. In World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, millions of Band-Aid bandages were shipped overseas.

In 1951 the first decorative Band-Aids were introduced to the market. They continue to be a commercial success today with decorative themes such as Superman
Superman

Superman is a Character , a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio, and sold to DC Comics in 1938, the character first appeared in Action Comics Action Comics 1 and subseque...
, Spider-Man
Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character First appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 , and was created by scripter-editor Stan Lee and artist-plotter Steve Ditko....
, SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants

SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated Television program and media franchise. It is currently one of Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network's most-watched show....
, Smiley Faces, and Batman.

Johnson & Johnson makes a variety of different products under the Band-Aid brand. These include Band-Aid liquid bandages and Scar Healing bandages. Their newest products include Active Flex bandages, which come in a variety of shapes, forming a fluid-filled barrier to help wounds heal faster. They also include waterproof Tough Strips, which have a strong adhesive, allowing for longer wear. In addition to wound treatment bandages, the company produces Burn-Aid, a burn gel which is applied as a prepackaged bandage. In order to protect the name as a registered trademark, the product is always referred to as "Band-Aid brand" and not just Band-Aid. Today Band-Aid and Johnson and Johnson products are made in third world countries and shipped back into the USA. Manufacturing facilities are located in Brazil and China.

Contents

The adhesive used on the underside of the Band-Aid is epoxy
Epoxy

In chemistry, epoxy or polyepoxide is a thermosetting epoxide polymer that cures when mixed with a catalyst agent or hardener. Most common epoxy resins are produced from a reaction between epichlorohydrin and bisphenol-A....
 made from the same compounds as glue. The actual bandage is made with nylon
Nylon

Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides and first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont....
 fibers embedded into medical cloth. Cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
 is used as the absorption pad covered with a thin plastic sheet with holes for ventilation.

External links

  • from the Lemuelson-MIT Program