From the archives

1916

This Spanish language ad for sterile absorbent cotton is from 1916. Johnson & Johnson established its own in-house Spanish language department to create ads and translate physician education materials into Spanish. By the 1910s, Johnson & Johnson had been advertising in Spanish for more than two decades to reach Spanish speaking physicians and customers in Latin America and the United States.

1950

The 1950s were a time of growth and innovation for Johnson & Johnson in the field of sutures. Milestones during that decade included the introduction of ophthalmic sutures and a complete line of cardiovascular sutures. These 1950 silk cuticular sutures were designed for use in closing surgical incisions and skin lacerations.

1910

This vial of Wood’s silk sutures is in a handblown glass vial, designed to keep the contents sterile from the Johnson & Johnson Aseptic Department to the surgeon’s hands. In that era, the company employed nine glassblowers to make handblown glass vials for some of its sterile sutures. The distinctive label helped ensure that the company’s surgical products were instantly recognizable to surgeons.

1898-1910

This jar of Linton Moist Gauze, an early sterile surgical product, was produced in Johnson & Johnson’s Aseptic Laboratories in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was packaged in a fruit jar that was hermetically sealed to keep the product sterile. These jars, specially made for Johnson & Johnson, were embossed with the company’s name. Linton Moist Gauze continued to be sold in fruit jars until the 1920s.

1902

A packaging innovation, the tank suture package consisted of a glass container with three individual glass spools of sterile sutures inside, with each spool of sutures designed to be drawn out through a rubber stopper. Each glass tank container was packed in an individual outer box like the one shown here.

1916

Early in Johnson & Johnson history, the company’s products were shipped worldwide in sturdy wooden shipping crates with hand stenciled lettering. This 1916 Johnson & Johnson shipping crate was repurposed as a storage chest, thus preserving a rare type of artifact, since wooden shipping crates were frequently broken up and used as kindling once they had reached their destination.

1895-1910

In 1895, Revra DePuy founded the world’s first orthopaedic company to make the first customizable fitted splints to heal orthopaedic injuries. His innovative splints were an improvement over the wooden splints commonly used in that era. These customizable metal splints were designed by Revra DePuy between 1895 and 1910. Today, the business Revra DePuy founded is part of Johnson & Johnson’s global orthopaedics business, which provides one of the most comprehensive orthopaedics portfolios in the world that includes joint reconstruction, trauma, craniomaxillofacial, spinal surgery, and sports medicine.

1927

This 1927 Plaster of Paris bandage was an early orthopaedic product used by surgeons and doctors to create casts to heal broken limbs. These bandages were packed in airtight metal containers like the one shown here to protect the contents from moisture and humidity.

1913

This hospital size package provided a larger quantity of sterile ligatures for surgeons in hospitals. The tank package was a glass container with individual glass spools of sterile sutures or ligatures inside it. The tank packages came in two sizes: a three-spool tank, or a one-spool tank. This package of catgut ligatures contained a larger, one-spool tank package of sterile ligatures.

1892

Iodoform Cotton was an early sterile surgical product. Packaged in a sealed glass jar to keep the contents sterile, this jar of sterile cotton dates from the year the company’s Aseptic Department opened. A pioneering sterile industrial manufacturing facility, the Aseptic Department was located in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

1890s

This blue jar of Linton Moist Gauze dates from the 1890s and contains five yards of sterile surgical gauze. The distinctive cobalt blue glass jar is embossed with the company’s name vertically on the side to the left of the label, and the hermetically sealed fruit jar uses a distinctive threaded metal band to hold the glass lid in place.

1889

This 19th century analytical balance belonged to Fred Kilmer, Johnson & Johnson’s scientific director from 1889 to 1932. Kilmer, a pharmacist and pharmaceutical chemist, used this balance in the company’s laboratories during the course of his career. The drawer at the front held weights used to measure the mass of small samples with great precision, and the glass enclosure ensured that air currents would not interfere with the measuring process.