Episode 12: Raybestos and the Brake Pad Revolution

Did the auto industry know brake dust was killing mechanics? By 1935, yes—and they agreed to stay quiet. On October 1, 1935, Raybestos president Sumner Simpson wrote to Johns-Manville: "I think the less said about asbestos, the better off we are." That silence lasted 50 years, excluded 900,000 brake workers from health studies, and left Connecticut playgrounds paved with asbestos waste.

Key Takeaways

• 900,000 brake mechanics worked in the U.S. by 1975—none appeared in corporate health studies for 50 years.
• October 1, 1935: Simpson-Brown correspondence established agreement to suppress asbestos health information.
• 47-year gap between documented danger (1930s) and first successful brake manufacturer lawsuit (1985).
• Stratford, Connecticut had the state's highest mesothelioma rates 1958-1991—particularly among individuals under 25.
• $113 million allocated for ongoing Superfund cleanup at the Stratford Raymark site.

FAQ

Were brake mechanics at risk for mesothelioma?

Yes. Brake linings contained 40-60% asbestos. By 1975, 900,000 Americans worked in brake servicing—none tracked in health studies. The 47-year gap between documented danger and first successful lawsuit (1985) left a generation unwarned.

What is the Sumner Simpson quote?

On October 1, 1935, Raybestos president Simpson wrote to Johns-Manville attorney Vandiver Brown: "I think the less said about asbestos, the better off we are." Brown acknowledged their "ostrich-like attitude."

What happened in Stratford, Connecticut?

Raymark gave away asbestos waste as "free fill" for playgrounds and schoolyards. Stratford had Connecticut's highest mesothelioma rates 1958-1991—particularly among those under 25, indicating childhood exposure.

Can families of brake mechanics file claims?

Yes. Over $30 billion remains in asbestos trust funds. Contact Danziger & De Llano for a free evaluation: dandell.com/contact-us/

Expert Source

Paul Danziger — Founding Partner, Danziger & De Llano. 30+ years mesothelioma litigation.

https://dandell.com/paul-danziger/

Resources

• Asbestos Exposure: dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/
• Compensation Options: dandell.com/mesothelioma-compensation/
• Free Evaluation: dandell.com/contact-us/

Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making — 52 episodes tracing asbestos from ancient pottery to the 2024 EPA ban. Produced by Danziger & De Llano.

Next: Episode 13 — The Magic Mineral Goes Mainstream.

Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making is sponsored by Danziger & De Llano Mesothelioma Law Firm, a nationwide practice with over 30 years of experience and nearly $2 billion recovered for asbestos victims. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the exposure happened somewhere—and Paul Danziger and Rod De Llano know how to trace it back. For a free consultation, visit https://dandell.com.

Resources:

→ Mesothelioma legal rights: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma/

→ Asbestos exposure sources: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/

→ Asbestos trust funds ($30B+ available): https://dandell.com/asbestos-trust-funds/

→ Free case evaluation: https://dandell.com/contact/

Sister Podcast - MESO: The Mesothelioma Podcast:

http://mesotheliomapodcast.com/

Episode 11: The Corporate Architects

Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making

In 1898, a British government inspector described asbestos particles as "sharp, glass-like, jagged" and documented workers dying from lung disease. That same year, Henry Ward Johns—founder of America's largest asbestos company—died of his own product at age 40. Three years later, the Johns-Manville merger created an empire while public health warnings sat on file, ignored.

In Episode 11 of Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making, hosts trace how corporations built global empires while evidence of worker deaths accumulated in government reports, medical testimony, and insurance actuarial tables.

What this episode covers:

• Lucy Deane's 1898 British Factory Inspectors' Report—the first government documentation that asbestos dust caused "evil effects" and "injury to bronchial tubes and lungs"

• Henry Ward Johns dies of asbestosis at age 40—three years before his company merges to create Johns-Manville

• Dr. H. Montague Murray's 1906 Parliamentary testimony: a patient who reported 10 coworkers dead, all in their thirties

• Denis Auribault's 1906 French report: approximately 50 worker deaths in a single Normandy factory over five years

• Frederick Hoffman's 1918 finding that insurance companies refused to cover asbestos workers "on account of the assumed health-injurious conditions"

• The 1921 Bureau of Mines propaganda film promoting Johns-Manville—still streamable today from the Library of Congress

Who this episode is for:

Families researching asbestos exposure history, mesothelioma patients seeking to understand corporate suppression, historians examining early industrial health documentation, and anyone following the evidence trail from ancient history to modern conspiracy.

Expert perspective:

"Companies kept meticulous production records—shipping manifests, insurance policies, inventory logs. They just didn't track what happened to the workers. After 30 years in mesothelioma litigation, we've learned that the paper trail always exists. Someone just has to know where to look." — Paul Danziger, Founding Partner, Danziger & De Llano (https://dandell.com/paul-danziger/)

Resources:

→ Asbestos exposure sources: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/

→ Mesothelioma compensation options: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma-compensation/

→ Attorney profile — Rod De Llano: https://dandell.com/rod-de-llano/

→ Free consultation: https://dandell.com/contact-us/

Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making is sponsored by Danziger & De Llano Mesothelioma Law Firm, a nationwide practice with over 30 years of experience and nearly $2 billion recovered for asbestos victims. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the exposure happened somewhere—and Paul Danziger and Rod De Llano know how to trace it back. For a free consultation, visit https://dandell.com.

Resources:

→ Mesothelioma legal rights: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma/

→ Asbestos exposure sources: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/

→ Asbestos trust funds ($30B+ available): https://dandell.com/asbestos-trust-funds/

→ Free case evaluation: https://dandell.com/contact/

Sister Podcast - MESO: The Mesothelioma Podcast:

http://mesotheliomapodcast.com/

Episode 10: The Mines Open

Arc 3: The Industrial Revolution — Premiere Episode

How did a 'miracle fix' for deadly boiler explosions become a century-long catastrophe? In 1880, 159 boilers exploded in a single year—killing workers and bystanders with scalding steam and flying metal. Asbestos insulation solved the problem. But boiler explosions killed dozens per year. Asbestos would kill hundreds of thousands. The cure was worse than the disease—by orders of magnitude.

Episode 10 marks the premiere of Arc 3: The Industrial Revolution. After nine episodes covering 4,500 years of asbestos as rare curiosity, we examine the century (1828-1900) when it became cheap enough to wrap every steam pipe in America—and deadly enough to kill the founder of the American asbestos industry.

In this episode:

• The 1836 Patent Office fire that erased the identity of America's first asbestos patent holder—the fireproof mineral, lost to fire

• Quebec's production explosion: 50 tonnes (1878) to 10,000+ tonnes (1890s)—and zero worker injury records for the entire century

• Thomas Reily: killed by flying boiler metal while walking home in 1853, his death blamed on 'a man in Canada'

• Henry Ward Johns: founded the American asbestos industry, died in 1898 from breathing his own product

• The 1899 Charing Cross case: a textile worker who knew all 10 of his coworkers had died—and became the first documented victim

• Why corporate origin myths always involve blueberries and tea kettles, never 'dust and coughing'

Who this episode is for: Anyone researching asbestos industry history, families tracing occupational exposure in mining or manufacturing, historians interested in Industrial Revolution workplace safety, and listeners following the series from ancient origins into the modern conspiracy.

Expert perspective: "The conspiracy doesn't start with what companies knew—it starts with who they didn't bother counting," notes Paul Danziger, founding partner of Danziger & De Llano and a mesothelioma attorney with over 30 years of experience. "The bodies were always there. Someone just had to decide they mattered."

Resources:

→ Asbestos Exposure Pathways: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/

→ Attorney Rod De Llano: https://dandell.com/rod-de-llano/

→ Mesothelioma Compensation Options: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma-compensation/

→ Free Consultation: https://dandell.com/contact-us/

About this series: Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making traces the full history of asbestos—from 4700 BCE Finnish pottery to the 2024 EPA ban—revealing how corporations suppressed evidence while workers died. Produced by Danziger

Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making is sponsored by Danziger & De Llano Mesothelioma Law Firm, a nationwide practice with over 30 years of experience and nearly $2 billion recovered for asbestos victims. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the exposure happened somewhere—and Paul Danziger and Rod De Llano know how to trace it back. For a free consultation, visit https://dandell.com.

Resources:

→ Mesothelioma legal rights: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma/

→ Asbestos exposure sources: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/

→ Asbestos trust funds ($30B+ available): https://dandell.com/asbestos-trust-funds/

→ Free case evaluation: https://dandell.com/contact/

Sister Podcast - MESO: The Mesothelioma Podcast:

http://mesotheliomapodcast.com/