We Made WHAT??

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 and better results.”  Vino Kolafra was discontinued when it was discovered that workers were indeed doing more than expected:  they were sampling the sherry base in increasing quantities.  

Although Mosquitoons would win the prize for most humorous product name, they addressed a serious health concern.  Mosquitoons were pyramid-shaped fumigators designed to kill mosquitoes, which were disease carriers as well as pests.  Users were instructed to light them and then leave the house.  The package reassured purchasers that Mosquitoons would not harm metal or clothing…leaving us to draw our own conclusions about the unintended effects of other pest removal products on the market at that time! 

One of the strangest things Johnson & Johnson made were Court Plasters, which were little beauty spots made from leftover materials used to make medicated plasters.  The Company would take a small amount of this material and make it into stars, moons and other shapes, which women put on their face to accentuate what they considered their most beautiful feature.  Pictures of early theater and film actresses often show them wearing beauty spots – which look like moles, but on closer inspection are little stick-on dots, stars and crescents.

BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages

 

BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages are one of the most recognizable of the Company’s products.   They were invented in 1920 by an employee named Earle Dickson, who worked as a cotton buyer.  His wife Josephine was prone to kitchen accidents.  Earle wanted a bandage his wife could apply herself, so he took two of the Company’s early products – adhesive tape and gauze – and combined them by laying out a long piece of surgical tape and placing small pieces of gauze on it in intervals. To keep the adhesive from sticking, he covered it with crinoline fabric.  Whenever his wife cut herself, she cut a piece of the tape and gauze pad and used it as a bandage.  Dickson mentioned his invention at work, and a new product was born.   The first BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages went on the market in 1921, and were the first ready-made adhesive bandages that consumers could apply themselves.  Earle Dickson was made a vice president at Johnson & Johnson.

Absorbent Cotton Products

 Absorbent cotton products are some of the earliest products made by Johnson & Johnson.  Absorbent cotton was used in surgery and wound treatment. Prior to the availability of sterile cotton products, leftover cotton from the floor of the country’s cotton mills was used by surgeons to treat wounds and stop bleeding.  The products shown in the above photograph number among the first products of Johnson & Johnson, and include a variety of sterile cotton, either plain (in the blue wrapper) or infused with iodine (Iodoform Cotton) and other sterilizing agents. 

As the pioneer in antiseptic and sterile surgical dressings in America, Johnson & Johnson constantly developed new sterile products and also served as a source of information on new approaches to surgery and patient care. 

Early Suture Products

 Sterile sutures were another of the earliest products of Johnson & Johnson.  These are some examples of early sterile sutures made by the Company, and include catgut, which was an absorbable suture, and silk sutures. 

Johnson & Johnson worked diligently to improve sterilization methods and make a variety of sterile sutures available. Many physicians at the time used ordinary sewing thread to close wounds, so the Company’s sterile sutures were a welcome innovation for doctors and patients.  An interesting sidelight of the Company’s suture business is dental floss, which was originally made from leftover suture silk.

The Earliest Products

 

Aseptic gauze and cotton were among the first Johnson & Johnson products.  Many of these early products were impregnated with antiseptic agents or medication, and sealed in glass or metal containers to keep them sterile. These antiseptic gauzes and cottons helped revolutionize surgical care by greatly reducing mortality rates from surgical infection.  Many of the names of the Company’s early products, such as the ones above, were descriptive of the product or its ingredients.  Others — such as Dr. Grosvenor’s Bellcapsic Plaster — were named after physicians who contributed ideas for new products to the Company.