I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but my parents and my whole extended family are from an area in eastern Michigan, about 2 hours north of Detroit.
Especially back then, the local economy was heavily dependent on Dow Chemical, who has a massive facility in the area. My grandfather worked there. He was one of the first people to ever handle Saran wrap. He also recalls hilarious stories, like a time when someone pranked the foreman by dumping some stuff in the soap dispenser that turned into a sticky, snotty goo when exposed to water. He also worked in an area that used lots of iodine for a couple years. His whole body was sunflower yellow when he came home from work, but he says he never got a cold!
Some stories are more harrowing. There were air raid sirens to warn people when Dow was venting something into the atmosphere. If you heard the sirens, you went inside ASAP.
And then there was the dioxin plant (aka agent orange). He says men in their 40s who worked in the dioxin plant looked like they were in their 80s. Many hard-working people died young there.
Luckily, he was never in the Dioxin plant on a daily basis - he was a diesel mechanic and a welder. Had he been in the dioxin plant, he probably wouldn't be alive today to share those stories. I fear that, as this generation leaves us, so will the cautionary tales.
> I fear that, as this generation leaves us, so will the cautionary tales.
Cautionary tales that are not being learned where the similarly dreadful silicosis is concerned; there is an incredible increase in the number of cases of silicosis among kitchen fitters working on granite worktops.
(I fear we may also find this issue among people working near 3D printers using glass and carbon-fibre-filled filaments.)
I (in Australia) was looking at weatherboards on the weekend for some work i’m doing and came across the James Hardie ‘Linea’ weatherboards - they’re fibro-cement boards. A couple of things struck me:
1) I’ve noticed the James Hardie ‘brand’ being used openly a lot in the past 5 years. I guess the stigma from their evil handling of asbestosis claims is gone.
2) In the installation manual it had an extensive list of things you have to do to not get silicosis.
No thanks Satan, regular pine weatherboards for me!
We spent some time this summer in the Saginaw and Midland area. The "mark" that the Dow family made is very visible, insofar as charities, buildings, etc. I would imagine that's the tip of a very scary industrial contamination iceberg.
Yep. Midland is basically Dow, the City. My dad went to Dow High School. One of the main tourist attractions is Dow Gardens (worth visiting if you didn't, by the way). Or you can go watch a baseball game at Dow Diamond. It's pretty, too - one of the best collections of Prairie architecture in the world... much of it designed by Alden B. Dow, son of the company's namesake, and student of Frank Lloyd Wright. Just don't go in the Tittabawassee river.
We were only in that area for a couple of days. It seems to be a nice area. Midland has a bit of a theme park / artificial feel to it, though. Saginaw seems a little more "authentic".
We were impressed by Dow Gardens. I'm also particularly interested Alden B. Dow's architecture. I'm hoping to attend one of the various tours the studio offers next year.
I happened to see an article[0] about a Dow house coming up for sale last year. That ignited my interest in that area of the state. (I'm not a credible enough potential buyer to actually see this property in the flesh, sadly.)
Some of my family lived in the Traverse City area and we still have property there. We spend time there every summer and, coming from western Ohio, we always take a westerly route to get up there. I'd never spent any time on the eastern side of the peninsula before. We're definitely going back for another couple days sometime.
Hah, I can see that perception for sure. Downtown Midland is very prim and proper, and doesn't really match the culture of the rest of the Tri Cities. Bay City has an adorable little downtown if you're ever in the area again. It's a must-visit if you like antique shops, and much more authentic.
In college, some times a kid would go pass out in his car rather than drive, and people would Saran Wrap the car so they couldn’t open the doors to get out.
Especially back then, the local economy was heavily dependent on Dow Chemical, who has a massive facility in the area. My grandfather worked there. He was one of the first people to ever handle Saran wrap. He also recalls hilarious stories, like a time when someone pranked the foreman by dumping some stuff in the soap dispenser that turned into a sticky, snotty goo when exposed to water. He also worked in an area that used lots of iodine for a couple years. His whole body was sunflower yellow when he came home from work, but he says he never got a cold!
Some stories are more harrowing. There were air raid sirens to warn people when Dow was venting something into the atmosphere. If you heard the sirens, you went inside ASAP.
And then there was the dioxin plant (aka agent orange). He says men in their 40s who worked in the dioxin plant looked like they were in their 80s. Many hard-working people died young there.
Luckily, he was never in the Dioxin plant on a daily basis - he was a diesel mechanic and a welder. Had he been in the dioxin plant, he probably wouldn't be alive today to share those stories. I fear that, as this generation leaves us, so will the cautionary tales.
https://www.michiganlcv.org/case/no-compensation-victims-tox...
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2023/01/30/705...