Prior to 1920, bandages were cumbersome affairs and could be difficult to apply by oneself. Earle Dickson, a Johnson & Johnson employee in the cotton division, hit upon the idea of ready-made adhesive bandages, and the company began producing them. According to Johnson & Johnson, the company only made $3,000 on the product in 1920, the first year they were available. But by 2001, over 100 billion Band-Aid bandages had been produced.