1920: Johns-Manville Keystone Hair Insulation means the best Grade of Cattle Hair mixed with Asbestos

For both insulation and sound deadening, Johns-Manville marketed in 1920 a product which mixed cattle hair with asbestos. Given the timing, I suspect that some of this insulation may still exist in older homes and buildings. That being said, from page 9 of the sales brochure, it seems that only some of the brand names, but not all of them, used asbestos: see the below for Salamander and Phoenix which explicitly used asbestos on the sides versus Acme and others that just discuss using plain gray building paper.

The brochure also advertised other JM asbestos products such as Transite Asbestos Wood, and Ready – to – Lay Roofing under the brand names Asbestone, Flexstone, and Brooks.

Interesting stuff for those who are into remediation or destruction. The amount of asbestos on older homes and buildings is vast and almost impossible to identify without testing.

Let me know what you think either by leaving a comment or sending me an email at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Thanks. Marty