ASBESTOS IN 1905: AT LEAST THE ENGLISH CAN BLAME THE SCOTS

One of my favorite asbestos history books was written by Fritz Cirkel in 1905 entitled Canadian Government Report on Asbestos: Asbestos, its Occurrence, Exploitation and Uses. This book goes all the way back in terms of commercial use and is filled with pictures and facts rarely seen elsewhere, including many involving England.

Let’s start at the beginning. The Canadian government charged Cirkel in 1904 to undertake a broad ranging investigation as follows, including that related to asbestos in foreign countries.

As a brief history lesson, Cirkel investigated the first commercial uses of asbestos both in the United States and in Great Britain. As to the U.S.:

“Up to 1878 goods manufactured of asbestos were few …. According to Mr. Alfred Fisher, the General Manager of the United Asbestos Company, London, asbestos was first used in the United States in the year 1868-69 in connection with the manufacture of roofing felt and cement …”

So, that is where it all began. As to use in the U.K, well, that required an enterprising Scotchman:

[B]ut it was reserved to some enterprising Scotchman to first bring asbestos to the notice of engineers in Great Britain. A company was formed in the year 1871 called the Patent Asbestos Manufacturing Company, Limited, and works were established in Glasgow and operations commenced.

This book has an incredible amount of historical data and pictures for anyone interested in the past. Just look at the beginning of Chapter 1 and then some of the details within that chapter.

Let me know if you have an interest in borrowing the book. I only have it in hard copy (although I have his 1910 follow up book both in hard copy and electronic format), but may be able to find an electronic copy at the Hathi Digital Trust if I look hard enough.

Also, let me know if you have any comments or questions, either by leaving a comment or emailing me at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com, and thank you for reading my blog. Marty