Kalamazoo Gals : : a Story of Extraordinary Women & Gibson's "Banner" Guitars of Wwii / John Thomas ; With a Foreword by Jonathan Kellerman.
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Call Number: 787.871 Th
On Shelf At: Downtown Library
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Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout |
787.871 Th | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
"Only a Gibson is good enough" -- The man who fused guitar and cello -- Those toys -- The good war -- Oral histories of the unsung women (and only one man) who carried Gibson through World War II -- April 2008: deja vu all over again -- A wooden conundrum wrapped in an enigma of lacquer -- "If these old guitars could talk -- Epilogue.
According to company lore, Gibson, the guitar manufacturer, had ceased guitar production during World War II with only "seasoned craftsmen" too old for battle doing repairs and completing the few instruments already in progress at their Kalamazoo, Michigan factory. However, beginning in 1942, Gibson started producing wartime guitars each marked with a small, golden "banner" displaying the slogan: "only a Gibson is good enough". Over 9000 of these "Banner" guitars were produced between 1942 and 1945 and they are considered to be some of the finest acoustic guitars ever produced but who was making them? In this work of musical and social history, Thomas explores the origins of the Gibson "Banner" guitars and the remarkable women, many of whom had no prior training in instrument construction, who built them.
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PUBLISHED
Franklin, Tennessee : American History Press, [2012]
Year Published: 2012
Description: xiv, 249 pages, [20] pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book
ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780983082781
0983082782
SUBJECTS
Gibson, Inc. -- History.
Guitar makers -- History.
Guitar makers -- History -- Personal narratives.
Guitar -- History.
Guitar -- 20th century.
Guitar -- History.
Women -- History -- 20th century.
Women -- History -- 20th century.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Women.