T. P. O'Hagan to R. B. Von Wald on When J-M Products Were Labeled (1974)

A one-page Johns-Manville internal memo of January 9, 1974, from T. P. O'Hagan to R. B. Von Wald of J-M's legal department, on "Labeling of Products," with three pages of tables answering Von Wald's request of December 17, 1973. The tables list, product by product, which caution label each J-M asbestos product carried (L-4955, L-4956, LIN-4955A and others) and the date it was first applied, across construction products such as Marinite and Transite core plate, electrical papers and boards, packings, gaskets and tape, textiles, and discontinued insulation products. O'Hagan notes that a rubber stamp warning "is applied to some MARINITE products out of Billerica."

What it shows

For most current products the first label date is July 1, 1970, with a revised label added in 1971 or 1972; electrical, packing, gasket and textile products are shown first labeled in 1972 and 1973. A column marked "E" gives earlier dates, from 1964 to 1966, for insulation products such as Thermobestos, Superex, 85% Magnesia and several cements. A number of products, including Aertite Coating, Fibrous Adhesive, Insulkote, Asbestos Weatherproofing Felts and many of the older "out of line" insulation products (fire felts, Thermotape, Asbestocel, asbestos blankets), are listed with no label at all. The table is a useful key to when J-M's caution labels reached each product.

About this copy

The right-hand edge of pages 2 and 4 is cut off in this copy, so some of the later label dates and the "date replaced" column are incomplete. The label specimens the memo mentions are not attached.