After the experiments of Joseph Lister and Louis Pasteur on germ theory, people discovered the need for sanitary conditions especially in the field of medicine.  Before the invention of the Band-Aid^â, this was accomplished in small cuts by attaching a piece of gauze to the wound using adhesive tape.  But as Earle Dickson found out, with small cuts such as the ones endured by his wife while cutting vegetables, that method proved to be not only cumbersome, but was also prone to falling off of the cut.  He invented a solution to this common problem.  He folded and attached small pieces of gauze to the sticky part of surgical tape, with spaces in between the separate sections of gauze.  He then covered the spaces with a material called crinoline to keep the tape from sticking to itself.  One great advantage of Band-Aids^â is that victims can apply them quickly and easily to themselves. When Dickson pitched his idea to his company, Johnson and Johnson, they decided to market the product.  Initially, Band-Aids^â did not receive much interest from the public.  In 1924, Johnson and Johnson began mass producing them in various sizes, and sales took off.  Since their creation, over a hundred billion Band-Aids^â have been made. 

*Picture from www.medivisionindia.com/ firstaid/dressing.phtml