I have long been an advocate of teaching in the public schools all of the many ways railroading set the tone for many aspects of modern life. The concepts of time zones, the organization of big businesses, and modern diet (thanks to refrigerator cars) owe all or part of their origins to the railroad business. If you do a little study, it makes for great cocktail party trivia. Impress your friends!
Now come our friends at Johnson & Johnson, who tell me that this year marks the 125th anniversary of an item we all have in our homes, offices, automobiles, and yes, trains. It’s the first aid kit, and according to their company historian, it owes its origins to railroading.
The story goes that while on vacation in the late 1880s, Johnson & Johnson founder Robert Wood Johnson struck up a conversation with a railway surgeon on his train that was heading through the Rocky Mountains. The surgeon mentioned that railroad workers were frequently injured while laying track and that treating them was difficult due to lack of sterile medical supplies and the long distance to medical facilities.
That got Johnson to thinking, and after consulting with other railway surgeons across the country, Johnson pioneered the first commercial first aid kit, featuring supplies to treat injuries, both minor and serious. The first kits arrived on the market in, September 1888, square boxes the size of a fish tackle box, filled with sterile dressings, absorbent cotton, bandages, surgical tape, sterilization chemicals, and other supplies.
Of course, from there, Johnson began creating different varieties of first aid kits to satisfy different needs.
Margaret Gurowitz, chief historian at Johnson & Johnson, says Johnson made the trip that led to the creation of the first aid kit as a vacation to a Colorado cattle ranch. It’s quite likely that he was riding the Denver & Rio Grande, although it’s not documented.
“He was outgoing, and started talking with a fellow passenger,” Gurowitz said. Having learned about the need, Johnson wrote to other railway surgeons to get their thoughts. And not long after, the first kits were sold. Among the earliest customers were the New York Central and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western.
But this isn’t the only railroad story in the corporate history of Johnson & Johnson. The company is based in New Brunswick, N.J., because of the railroad: James Wood Johnson, one of the three founders, was riding a Pennsylvania Railroad train and when it made its stop, Johnson saw a 4-story brick building for rent. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
There are two more pieces of railroad history to put into your next party conversation.
All images courtesy of Johnson & Johnson.
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