J. H. Layton Jr. of Pittsburgh Corning, History of the Insulation Industry (1956)

The first four typed pages of "History of the Insulation Industry," a paper presented by J. H. Layton Jr. of Pittsburgh Corning Corporation at the Thermal Insulation Society meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia, on November 1, 1956. Its asbestos section tells the trade's own story: pipes once covered with old carpet, clay and cattle hair; the first asbestos insulation in 1866, made by Robert F. Toope, who "sold his patent rights in the United States to the Johns Company (now Johns-Manville)"; Hiram N. Hanmore's discovery of magnesia carbonate as an insulator and the founding of the Magnesia Sectional Covering Company with Dr. Mattison of Keasbey & Mattison, which later used asbestos fiber in place of silk noils; and the growth of H. W. Johns and the Manville Covering Company into the Johns-Manville Corporation.

About this copy

The copy stops partway into the paper's second section, on mineral wool, so the rest of the paper is missing. The first page of the file, a folder tab labeled "92-00505 A/H GOV. SUBJECT, Historical Organizations and Functions," is left out. The paper says nothing about health; it is useful as an insulation maker's account of how asbestos and 85% magnesia coverings came into use.