STUCK ON YOU

   

By Mary Davis

 

Have you ever put clay and plant fibers on a wound? No?

 

Well, if that doesn’t appeal to you, how about sawdust?

 

The Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and Chinese, to name a few, used clay, plants, honey, poultices, raw meat, lint, as well as animal grease, among various other things to dress wounds and protect them. Any of those in your medicine cabinet?

 

These were all laborious, cumbersome, and didn’t always stay in place, especially while moving about.

 

 

We have newly married Josephine Dickson to thank for the modern-day self-adhesive bandage, or rather her husband. She was a bit of a hazard to herself in the kitchen with frequent cuts and burns.

 

Earle Dickson was a cotton buyer for the Johnson & Johnson company. He was concerned for his accident-prone, young bride, so in 1920, he combined two of the company’s products, gauze and adhesive tape. This allowed his wife to easily tend to her own injuries, rather than balancing gauze while trying to wrap tape around it.

 

These pre-BAND-AIDs were an eighteen-inch-long strip of adhesive tape two and a half inches wide. Gauze was placed down the middle of it. Then the next time Mrs. Dickson had a mishap while cooking, she could merely cut a width commensurate with the wound size and apply it unassisted.

 

 

Dickson showed his design to one of the Johnson brothers. In 1921, J & J started producing these first BAND-AIDs, all made by hand. They were not popular in this form, so the company precut them and individually wrapped them. To help with sales, they distributed free BAND-AIDs to the Boy Scouts of America.

 

 

I remember those tins on the right. Brings back memories of scraped knees.

 

In 1924, they automated and produced them by machine. But it wasn’t until 1939 that they began selling a sterilized version. The red pull string was added in 1940, which remained unchanged for fifty-two years until they introduced the pull-apart design.

 

 

As a child, I thought those tiny round ones were useless because of their size and would put them on for fun.

 

The first decorative ones, stars and stripes, were introduced in 1956. Various other prints and characters have graced them. Throughout the decades, the types of tape have evolved to include fabric, plastic, clear, and water resistant.

 

The famous jingle written by Barry Manilow, "I am stuck on BAND-AID Brand ’cuz BAND-AID’s stuck on me", didn’t come along until 1976.

 

Over a hundred years later, BAND-AIDs are still sticking to people.

 

MRS. WITHERSPOON GOES TO WAR (Heroines of WWII series)
3rd Place 2023 SELAH Award

A WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) flies a secret mission to rescue three soldiers held captive in Cuba.

Margaret “Peggy” Witherspoon is a thirty-four-year-old widow, mother of two daughters, an excellent pilot, and very patriotic. She joins the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). As she performs various tasks like ferry aircraft, transporting cargo, and being an airplane mechanic, she meets and develops feelings for her supervisor Army Air Corp Major Howie Berg. When Peggy learns of U.S. soldiers being held captive in Cuba, she, Major Berg, and two fellow WASPs devise an unsanctioned mission to rescue them. With Cuba being an ally in the war, they must be careful not to ignite an international incident. Order HERE!

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Rocky Mountains with her Carolina dog, Shelby, and her mini black lab, Willow. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

Sources

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, Charles Panati, p250-251

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-band-aid-1991345

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band-Aid

https://www.band-aid.com/about/history

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-band-aid-1991345