Earle Dickson

Earle Dickson (October 10, 1892—September 21, 1961) was an American inventor best known for inventing adhesive bandages in the US. He lived in Highland Park, New Jersey, for a large portion of his life.

Earle Dickson
Earle Dickson as a young man
Born	(1892-10-10)October 10, 1892 Grandview, Tennessee
Died	September 21, 1961(1961-09-21) (aged 68) Kitchener, Canada
Nationality	American
Spouse	Josephine Knight
Engineering career
Institutions	Johnson & Johnson
Projects	BAND-AID adhesive bandages

Biography

Dickson was a cotton buyer at the Johnson & Johnson company.^[1] His wife, Josephine Knight, often cut herself while doing housework and cooking.^[2] Dickson found that gauze placed on a wound with tape did not stay on her active fingers. In 1920, he placed squares of gauze in intervals on a roll of tape, held in place with crinoline.^[2] James Wood Johnson, his boss, liked the idea and put it into production. In 1924, Johnson & Johnson installed machines to mass-produce the once handmade bandages. At first, the product was not sold, only $3000 worth of bandaids sold, because individuals did not know how to use them. To promote sales, they sent out salesmen to show the people how to use them, eventually raising sales. Following the commercial success of his design, Dickson was promoted to vice president.