Asbestos can cause malignant mesothelioma. No one should ever use anything made with asbestos. It can kill you.
This article, published in 1916, illustrates how people used asbestos products in their homes. They had no idea that asbestos could cause malignant mesothelioma. They believed asbestos was a wonder of their times and gave it innumerable uses around the home.
Oven Canning
In oven cookery the fruit retains its shape, color and flavor better than when cooked in the preserving kettle.
Cover the bottom of the oven with a sheet of asbestos, the kind plumbers use in covering pipes. If this is not to be had, put into the oven shallow pans containing about two inches of boiling water.
Sterilize the jars and cans. Make a sirup of sugar and water. Wash and otherwise prepare the fruit. Pack the hot jars with fruit and fill with sirup. Run the blade of a knife around the inside of jar.
Place jars in oven, either on the asbestos sheet or in the pan of water. Have the oven moderately hot. Cook the fruit from 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and fill with boiling sirup. Wipe jar and seal. Set jars upside down on a clean shelf out of a draft. The next day tighten covers and seal edge with melted paraffin.
Source: The Day Book. Newspaper. July 20, 1916.
