History of the Band-Aid

Plastry z opatrunkiem są podstawowym elementem wyposażenia domowej apteczki. W Wielkiej Brytanii funkcjonuje nazwa plaster, w USA i kilku innych krajach (Australii, Brazylii, Kanadzie i Indiach) używa się słowa band-aid, które stało się nazwą rodzajową od marki produktów firmy Johnson & Johnson. Do powszechnego użycia wszedł także zwrot band-aid solution na określenie tymczasowej naprawy, prowizorki.

Band-Aid is the trademarked name for bandages sold by the Johnson & Johnson Company. The Band-Aid was invented in 1920 by Earle Dickson, employed as a cotton buyer for the Johnson & Johnson, for his wife Josephine Dickson, who frequently cut and burned herself while cooking. The prototype product allowed his wife to dress her wounds without assistance.
At that time a bandage consisted of separate gauze and adhesive tape that you would cut to size and apply yourself. Earle Dickson noticed that gauze and adhesive tape his wife used would soon fall off her active fingers. He decided to invent something that would stay in place and protect small wounds better.
Earle Dickson took a piece of gauze and attached it to the center of a piece of tape, and then covered the product with crinoline to keep it sterile. His boss, James Johnson, saw Earle Dickson's invention and decided to manufacture Band-Aids to the public. Dickson had a successful career at Johnson & Johnson, eventually becoming a Vice President at the company before his retirement in 1957.

The first bandages produced were hand-made and not very popular. Sales of Band-Aids were slow until Johnson & Johnson decided to give Boy Scout troops free Band-Aids as a publicity stunt. By 1924, Band-Aids were machine made, sold sterilized in 1939, and made with vinyl tape in 1958. In World War II, millions of Band-Aid bandages were shipped overseas, most of which went to the medical team. Other bandages were shipped to hospitals for people in urgent care. The original cost of Band-Aids was 2 cents for a pack of 15. In 1951, the first decorative Band-Aids were introduced to the market. They continue to be a commercial success today with decorative themes such as Superman, Spider-Man, Hello Kitty, Barbie, Dora the Explorer, and Batman.
 
Glossary:

• trademarked name – nazwa zastrzeżona (chroniona jako znak towarowy)
• bandage – bandaż, opatrunek
• dress wounds – opatrzyć rany
• gauze – gaza
• adhesive tape – taśma klejąca/przylepna
• apply – zastosować, przykleić, założyć
• attach – przymocować, przyczepić
• crinoline – krynolina
• sterile – sterylny, jałowy
• eventually – w końcu, ostatecznie
• publicity stunt – chwyt reklamowy
• ship overseas – wysyłać/przewozić za granicę

Źródło: about.com, wikipedia.org