Sal-mo (Nicolet)

Sal-Mo was the brand name of a line of asbestos insulation products.^1,2 The ads for it name Sall Mountain Company as the maker: the earliest, in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, in March 1920, offered "Sal-Mo Products," asbestos paper, millboard, pipe covering and cements, from Sall Mountain Co.¹ That ad listed the company's factories at Porter, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Rockdale, Ohio, without saying which product was made where.¹ A 1952 ad gave the company's address as Rockdale Lane, Hamilton, Ohio, "MAKERS OF SAL-MO ASBESTOS PRODUCTS."³ An insurance company's 1981 list of asbestos products, compiled from other companies' answers in lawsuits, files Sal-Mo as a trade name under Nicolet, with the note "NCLT PRODUCTS-SALL MOUNTAIN."⁴

A 1921 Sall Mountain ad named Sal-Mo asbestos paper, both plain and corrugated, millboard, pipe covering, cement, tubes, packings and gaskets.⁵ The same ad offered flat asbestos paper in 36-inch rolls of about 100 pounds, corrugated "Aircell" asbestos paper in 36-inch rolls of 250 square feet, and asbestos millboard in sheets 42 by 48 inches.⁵ In 1925 the company listed Sal-Mo asbestos air cell covering, air cell fireboard, cement and paper, "backed by more than a quarter of a century of experience."² Its 1952 ad, as "makers of Sal-Mo asbestos products," listed paper, pipe joint tape, rollboard, millboard, ductboard, corrugated air-cell paper, foil-clad paper and board, air-cell pipe coverings and sheets, wool and sponge felt pipe coverings, range boiler jackets, and furnace and boiler cements.³ A 1955 ad for its insulating and fireproofing products also listed magnesia covering, sheets, blocks and cement, asbestos cloth, wick and rope packings, and mineral wool insulating cement.⁶

Sal-Mo Aircell pipe coverings were sold in 1923 as "The Standard for Low Pressure Steam and Hot Water Pipes," made to fit all standard pipe sizes.⁷ A March 1923 ad said Sal-Mo conduit covering was "Especially designed for Underground and Exposed Steam Lines."⁸ A 1922 ad pitched Sal-Mo products for covering steam pipes and hot air pipes in homes.⁹ In 1950 the magazine reported that Sall Mountain's new president had for years been with its sales division, marketing "SAL-MO asbestos and other insulation products."¹⁰

What each document says

Every statement about Sal-mo (Nicolet) in the documents, in each document's own words.

Kind of product

We list Sal-mo (Nicolet) with pipe covering and block insulation, insulating cement and coatings, asbestos-cement pipe, board and sheet, paper, felt and millboard, cloth, tape and other textiles and gaskets and packing, from how the documents describe its form. Those pages explain how such products exposed workers.

Trades that worked with products like it: Insulators and Insulation Workers, Pipefitters and Plumbers, Boilermakers, Millwrights, Machinists, and Industrial Mechanics, Carpenters and Construction Workers.

See also

• Nicolet: the company's history, documents, people, products and plants
• Nicolet on our products page: what the documents say about the company's asbestos products, with sources

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1920, March 1920 (March 1, 1920), p. 21.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1925, July 1925 (July 1, 1925), p. 25.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1952, March 1952 (March 1, 1952), p. 25.
4. The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981) (April 30, 1981), p. 7.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1921, April 1921 (April 1, 1921), p. 60.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1955, October 1955 (October 1, 1955), p. 29.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1923, June 1923 (June 1, 1923), p. 43.
8. Asbestos Magazine, 1923, March 1923 (March 1, 1923), p. 43.
9. Asbestos Magazine, 1922, January 1922 (January 1, 1922), p. 58.
10. Asbestos Magazine, 1950, June 1950 (June 1, 1950), p. 48.