Asbestos
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Asbestos or asbestus is a group of naturally occurring, fibrous silicate minerals that have been used for thousands of years to create flexible fire-resistant objects, such as fireproof fabrics. It is
Industrial scale asbestos mining began in 1878 in Thetford township, Quebec. By 1895, mining was increasingly mechanized.
Canada's biggest power shovel loading an ore train with asbestos at the Jeffrey Mine, Johns-Manville Co., Asbestos, Quebec, June 1944
The applications of asbestos multiplied at the end of the 19th century—this is an advertisement for an asbestos-lined clothes iron from 1906
Asbestos fabric
Plaster
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Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used
Stucco plaster reliefs, such as this work at the Château de Fontainebleau, were hugely influential in Northern Mannerism. A plaster low-relief decorative frieze is above it.
Applying mud plaster to an outside wall
Clay plaster base coat on split oak lath held in place with straw and manure, covered with a lime plaster top coat, Old Economy Village, Pennsylvania (1827)
Lime setting-coat on clay plaster with straw binder. Applied to hand-split lath over a timber framed wall of a brick family house at Old Economy Village, Pennsylvania