Historical primary record
1958 industrial-board fabrication manual
Describes cutting, drilling, sanding, milling and dust collection, and names several board families.
Johns-Manville historical research
What do you remember about Johns-Manville products?
A product name, a gray pipe, a rigid board, a cutting task, a shop or a decade may help identify the historical record worth investigating. Begin with the memory; follow the evidence.
You are in a historical research collection
Three paths into the history
Start with the material or the work
Transite: sheets, corrugated products and pipe
What forms did people see, and how were they cut or installed?
Explore Transite →Industrial boards: Ebony, Ohmstone, Chemstone and Marinite
What happened in fabrication shops where boards were sawed, drilled and machined?
Explore industrial boards →Company and Manville Trust
Connect company records to the official claims process, without confusing historical documents with current eligibility rules.
Explore company and trust →More historical product families
Superex, Thermobestos, magnesia and Asbesto-Sponge
Pipe covering, blocks, cement and felted insulation from a 1950s company record.
Explore thermal insulation →Transite pipe, conduit and duct systems
Water, sewer, telephone duct, ventilation, gas vent, storm drain and other historical forms.
Explore pipe and duct history →Explore more of the historical product record
Johns-Manville Insulation Product Timeline
Follow the names and dates of historical pipe covering, blocks and insulation materials—from magnesia and Superex to Thermobestos and later replacement names.
Explore the history →Johns-Manville Millboard, Paper and Felt History
Explore numbered millboards, Asbestocite, Flexboard, paper, felts and jackets—names found in historical company product lists and plant records.
Explore the history →Johns-Manville Insulating Cements and Finishes
Historical cement and finish names can help identify the materials handled around pipes, boilers, tanks, ducts and industrial equipment.
Explore the history →Johns-Manville Manufacturing Plants and Product History
Explore historical Johns-Manville manufacturing locations and the products associated with them in company records, from Transite pipe to Marinite boards and insulation.
Explore the history →A historical record can answer one question at a time
What did the company call it?
Brand names and product families provide clues, but a familiar name may cover different formulations or eras.
What did workers do with it?
Cutting, drilling, fitting, cleaning, maintenance and removal are different activities. Historical instructions can help identify the task.
Where was it used?
Catalogs and manufacturing manuals can identify product families, applications and time periods. Workplace records, coworkers, contractors, photographs and other historical sources can help connect that product history to a remembered site.
Original historical documents
Selected original records
The following historical records are hosted by ToxicDocs. Read the original document when investigating a particular name or claim.
Historical primary record
1958 Transite historical press material
Describes early Transite sheet, corrugated and tubular product history. Individual dates and details require checking against the original record.
What H&S can help investigate
You do not have to identify the product or know the source of exposure before contacting us. A remembered place, trade, product, machine, approximate year or family history can help begin the conversation.
Johns-Manville research → New York Exposure Atlas → Start with what you remember →