Historical Trivia

Band-Aids® actually came from Listerine!

Here's the Scope... oops...scoop:

In the 1860's, a British surgeon named Sir Joseph Lister pioneered sanitary operating room procedures. In many hospitals, the post-operative mortality rate was in excess of 90%. I think it's clear to us today that his ideas were well needed.
Why, you may ask?

It seems that the doctors operated with their bare hands in street clothes. Spectators were allowed to observe the operations first hand. For surgical dressings, they used pressed sawdust which was lifted off the floors of the saw mills. Instruments were not sterilized - only washed with soap and water.

Lister gave a speech in Philadelphia in 1876, expressing his views on germs. No one was interested.

No one except a Missouri physician named Joseph Lawrence.

Lawrence went back to his lab and developed an antibacterial liquid, which was manufactured locally by the Lambert Pharmacal Company (any idea which Fortune 500 Corp. this became?). They needed a name. We can be sure that they must have tossed around some great ones in that board room. Maybe 'horrible tasting liquid' or 'Stuff to make your bad breath smell like something else that still smells bad, but not THAT bad'. I guess they weren't interested in these great suggestions.

Instead, they gave it the name Listerine, in honor of Sir Joseph L----r (you can figure out the rest). This gave it an antiseptic image. The right name at the right time.

So how does this lead to the Band-Aid?

It turns out that one other person was impressed by Lister's talk- Robert Johnson, a pharmacist from Brooklyn.

He and his two brothers decided to start a company to produce large dry cotton and gauze dressing. The company had a great name - Johnson and Johnson (why was the third brother excluded?). They were shipped in germ-resistant packages, guaranteeing sterility until opened.
Their next product was baby powder, also still on the market.

I can hear you yelling all the way over here in New York. SO WHERE DID THE BAND-AIDS® COME FROM?

Calm down and let me get a word in edgewise.

In 1920, another brother, James Johnson, heard that his employee had invented a neat product. The guy's name was Earle Dickson (note how his name is lost in history and the company took all the credit and profits).

Way back on December 6, 1917, Earle married Mrs. Earle (the former Miss Josephine Frances Knight). Josephine was extremely accident prone and constantly seemed to be cutting her fingers with those darn sharp kitchen knives. Problem! His company's bandages were too big for her delicate little bruises.

By 1920, he grew weary of having to bandage up his wife's dainty little fingers. He decided to affix small pieces of the sterile gauze to the center of strips of surgical tape. (I can hear the crowds of people now - "DUH! That's pretty obvious!" These are the same people who are unable to figure out how Newton discovered gravity because it's so obvious.) He mentioned what he had created to a fellow employee at Johnson and Johnson and was encouraged to approach management with the idea.

The Johnsons weren't overly impressed initially. At least not until good old Earle showed that he could easily apply it to himself. No help needed! Wow! Shazaaaaaam! What a great idea!

Unfortunately, the original handmade bandages did not sell - only $3000 worth of the product was sold during the first year. (The New York Times reports that "they came in sections 2 1/2 inches wide and 18 inches long" - does this seem a bit large to you?) By 1924 the Band-Aids® were produced by machine and sales took off. History was then made. Over one hundred billion have been made to date.

By the way, poor old Earle was not that poor in the end. The company actually made him a vice president (until he retired in 1957) and then a member of the board of directors. Unfortunately, Earle didn't enjoy a long retirement - he passed away on September 22, 1961 at age 68. At the time of his death, Johnson and Johnson was selling over $30,000,000 worth of Band-Aids® each year.

Useless? Useful? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

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Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.
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Food for Thought

“Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” – Nicolai Machiavelli
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LEFTIES TRIVIA – Did you know that the dinosaur species Masiakasaurus knopfleri was named after lefty musician Mark Knopfer? The paleontologists listened to “Dire Straits” recordings while discovering the species.

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Say What?


At the Electric Company:“We would be delighted if you send in your payment. However, if you don't, you will be.”

In a Restaurant window:“Don't stand there and be hungry. Come on in and get fed up.”

At a Propane Filling Station: “Thank heaven for little grills.”

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Christ in th Old Testament

The whole of the Old Testament is gathered up in Him. He Himself embodies in his own person the status and destiny of Israel, and in the community those who belong to Him that status and destiny is to be fulfilled – no longer in the nation as such.

– J. W. Winham, Anglican New Testament Scholar, from Christ and the Bible, 1972.



“So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” – Galatians 3:24

Food for Thought

Kids are Quick (more to come!)


TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America
MARIA: Here it is.

TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? CLASS: Maria. ____________________________________

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables. ____________________________________

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell "crocodile?"
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L"

TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I it. ____________________________________



THINK ABOUT IT

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

Some days you're the bug;
some days you're the windshield.

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

Be ye fishers of men. You catch them - He'll clean them!

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Food for Thought

“Broadmindedness is just another way of saying a fellow is too lazy to form an opinion.” – Will Rogers

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The Secret

One day, one friend asked another, “How is it that you are always so happy? You have so much
energy, and you never seem to get down.”

With her eyes smiling, she said, “I know the Secret!”

“What secret is that?”

To which she replied, “I'll tell you all about it, but you have to promise to share the Secret with others. The Secret is this: I have learned there is little I can do in my life that will make me truly happy. I must depend on God to make me happy and to meet my needs. When a need arises in my life, I have to trust God to supply according to HIS riches. I have learned most of the time I don't need half of what I think I do. He has never let me down. Since I learned that 'Secret', I am happy.”

The questioner's first thought was, “That's too simple!” But upon reflecting over her own life she recalled how she thought a bigger house would make her happy, but it didn't! She thought a better paying job would make her happy, but it hadn't. When did she realize her greatest happiness? ~ Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren, playing games, eating pizza or reading a story, a simple gift from God.

Now you know it too! We can't depend on people to make us happy. Only GOD in His infinite wisdom can do that. Trust HIM! And now I pass the Secret on to you! So once you get it, what will you do? YOU have to tell someone the Secret, too! ~ That GOD in His wisdom will take care of YOU!

But it's not really a secret! This is what the Scriptures tell us. We just have to believe it and do it. ~ Really trust God!

Just Pass It On!

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“During the years I have worked with contemporary Jesus research, two words have come to stand out; Jesus as the one who reveals and one who liberates. Everything that Jesus says and does can be basically described by these two words.” – Gustaf Adler (1879-1978)
Swedish Theologian and Bishop