When i was a kid, my household chores included keeping the coal fired boiler going, and occasionally patching the lagging on the furnace and pipes. Dad had a bag of (dry) asbestos plaster powder from the hardware store, and you just mixed it up in small batches like plaster, and troweled it on. It floated through the air in a fine haze and made pretty motes in the cellar window light when pouring and mixing. s kids also mixed it up to make dams or small forms for melting stuff in the furnace (mostly lead) and pouring stuff.
Later, as a carpenter, i often sawed up sheets and shingles of asbestos cement on re-hab jobs. We heard it was "bad" but it was in use everywhere, and you don't really take time to appreciate "how bad" when young, when nobody actually drops dead or gets rushed to the emergency room.
65 & hoping... lol.
smt