Kalamazoo Gals: A Story of extraordinary Women and Gibson's "Banner" Guitars of WWII

by John Thomas

The hidden story of the women who during WWII built some of the world's finest guitars.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2013

About the author

I'm a law professor, freelance writer, and guitarist still striving for mediocrity. My articles range in topic from borderlands issues and immigration and refugees to politics, health policy, bioethics, autism, and music and musical instruments. My writings have been published in law reviews, medical journals, music magazines, national newspapers, and the Oxford Dictionary of Music. My X-ray project that demonstrated why the "Banner" Gibsons built by the Kalamazoo Gals are superior to those built by their male predecessors and successors has morphed into an art show that is traveling to museums throughout the US through 2021 with the National Guitar Museum. My newest book, "One Hundred Years of Solitude, Struggle, and Violence along the US/Mexico Border: An Oral History" is both personal and, I hope, provocative. My next book, "Child Refugees—Exploring Public Health, Mental Health, Epigenetic, Neurological and Legal Needs" will be published by Springer-Nature in early 2020.

For more information about "Child Refugees" visit: https://www.facebook.com/Child-Refuge...

For more information about "Solitude, Struggle, and Violence" visit: https://solitudestruggleviolence.com/.

For more information about "Kalamazoo Gals" visit http://www.kalamazoogals.com/.

For some of that mediocre guitar playing and to check out some of my other projects, visit http://www.johnthomasguitar.com/.

Reviews

[Franci Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am midway through this book and just have to say that it's an entertaining and fascinating read! The author's self-effacing style and heartfelt manner in which he conducted his interviews with these "gals" in their 80s and 90s has really kept my attention. The author has brought history to life with the poignant stories of these women who have been unacknowledged until now. I have laughed and occasionally even cried, and although I am not a guitar geek at all I am just itching to hold a Gibson Banner in my own two hands. I would certainly recommend this book to read during Women's History Month and beyond.

[Julie Noot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the daughter of one of the Kalamazoo Gals. I originally started reading the book because of my Mom. But within a few pages, I forgot the family relationship and was drawn to the stories of all the Kalamazoo Gals. John captured the "gals" stories as well as Gibson, the Kalamazoo community and WWII history. The book held my attention as I laughed and cried and truly felt like I was on the journey with John. This book is now the gift I give when I want to give something to someone. Invest in this book . . . You won't be sorry!

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting historical book from many points.

While the main topic was the Kalamazoo Gals (the women who worked at Gibson Guitars during WWI) it was also a little bit of a mystery, music history and collectibles and also the story of industry over a period of time.

Some of the mysteries were why Gibson denied making guitars during WWII and then finding information, photographs and women that worked their describing their jobs. Gibson also had a very strange system of FON (factory order number) system that made it hard to track when a guitar was produced. The other mystery is why guitars produced during the WWII era had a gold banner with the tagline “Only a Gibson is good enough.”

The book also discussion musical artists that favored Gibson guitars and some of the prices they commanded in later years to collectors.

From a general historical perspective, the book discusses how the business was founded and then was managed, the role factories played in WWII to benefit the war effort, women and how they related to the workforce back in the 1940s when many only worked for a short time until they were married or until their husband came back from the war and how business and manufacturing changed in the US as culture changed too.

There were many pictures in black and white which might have been better to see in color (especially of the guitars) and along that note since I wasn’t familiar with all the pieces and sections of the guitar maybe a diagram for novices to understand some of the guitar construction.

[Steve Sartorius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book that my son gave to me as he lives in Kalamazoo and knows my love of guitars. The author brings to light a noble story about the lives of these women who worked at the Gibson factory during World War II and built what are called the Gibson banner guitars. He does incredible research on finding and interviewing the Kalamazoo gals who are still alive and delightfully relates the history and stories of their lives and working at Gibson. Unfortunately, this is only about half the book. He admittedly is a guitar geek and in my opinion spends too much time talking about the materials used and construction techniques in the making of these guitars. I found the history of Gibson and the stories about the women much more interesting than production techniques and old shipping logs. There are also good stories about Buddy Holly and Woodie Guthrie and the Gibson banner guitars they used. This was obviously a project that very dear to the author and you can't fault the depth of his research and his reverence for these women. This is a good story that I'm glad I got to read about. In fact, I visited the old Gibson guitar factory the next time I visited my son in Kalamazoo. I just found some parts of the book a little dry while the parts about the women were very interesting.

[Tim Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a player and lover of vintage American guitars, I found the information very interesting. As a study in misogyny among American males in the WWII years, it is brutal (although everyone in the book takes Gibson’s denial about their female workforce in stride). The oral histories of the women themselves made me misty-eyed for that WWII-depression era generation. Full of a lot of arcane information on how to (maybe) date a banner headstock Gibson acoustic guitar.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good topic for a book, but the author focused too much on his experiences in researching the Kalamazoo Gals and too little on the actual women who are supposedly the subject of the book. The discussion about Buddy Holly, Woody Guthrie and other artists who owned Banner Gibsons was frustrating. It didn't fit with what the book was supposedly about -- the women who made the guitars.
If you want to learn more about Gibson during WWII and the women who made the Banner Gibsons, find another book.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoying voice and pretty poorly written, which is a shame considering how compelling the story of the women who worked in the Gibson factory during WWII is. I wish he'd spent less time on his own guitar nerding and recording project and more on the women themselves.

[MaryH · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. I was hoping for something that talked more about the lives of the women who worked for Gibson during World War II. Instead it talked a lot about the construction of the guitars. That was something I neither enjoyed or understood.

[Stephanie Pieck · Rating 3 out of 5]

For decades, the Gibson guitar company maintained that they hadn't made many new instruments during World War II. Their factory was converted to manufacturing items necessary for the war, like aircraft components.
But the truth is a lot more fascinating. Throughout America's involvement in the war (1941-1945), women helped build almost 25,000 instruments. This book tells their stories.
The guitars of this period featured a gold banner in the Gibson logo on the headstock, a feature that appeared just as suddenly as it would later disappear. Faced with wartime shortages and government restrictions on many of the raw materials musical instrument makers relied on (like exotic hardwoods, ivory, rubber, plastic, and many kinds of metal), the Banner Gibsons are a testament to ingenuity and thrift. Mother-of-pearl for the various inlays and usable pieces of wood were salvaged from castoffs in the factory basement.
None of the women had any special skills for making stringed instruments, but they had remarkable manual dexterity, and the guitars they helped create have are prized by players and collectors alike for their warm, vibrant tone, their eexceptional resonance and their responsiveness.
The audio and online resources that accompany this book only enhance its value. Thanks to the author's passion and research, these women's voices will not be forgotten.

[Suzeesg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I never got a good explanation for why Gibson did their best to hide the fact that these women helped produce so many guitars during WWII.
A partial explanation given was that due to American businesses were more or less forced to cut back on production of their particular goods, due to the raw materials needed for that were to be used for military production primarily. I had no idea just how much rationing affected just about every aspect of not just citizens, but American business as well.
I also wanted to hear more about these women and their lives - the chapters about them were delightful slice-of-life pieces and made me realize just how little Americans today know about real sacrifice.
Not being that much of a guitar geek, I found the chapters on technical and manufacturing aspects too detailed for me and skimmed through most of those.
Still, it was a fun read, and the author very entertaining.

[Milo · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I heard a review of this book on NPR I was intrigued and really looked forward to reading it. After waiting several weeks a copy became available to me through inter-library loan. I barely made it through the introduction. I didn't even have the desire to go further and read about the Gals or the guitars. The writing annoyed and bored me to wits end.

The only good part for me was a mention of thanks to an acquaintance of mine, who owns one of those banner guitars. Seeing her name in the book was a very cool surprise.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chapters 3-6, the social history part, were good. Reading about WWII sacrifice is interesting. I wish the author had expanded on the stories of the women. I didn't like his writing style-- he injected his own experience into it too much. And the other chapters detailing the technical specs of production were good for guitar nuts only.

[Ddoddmccue · Rating 1 out of 5]

A guitarist’s love story? An ethnography? A forensic accountant’s playground? It depends on which chapter.

Love story- the author, a law school prof and guitarist, shares his personal quest to unlock the secrets of his aging instrument. The writing is conversational, flowing. Gotta give him credit for following the dream.

Ethnography- less than half the book focuses on the female workforce of the war years. These encounters shed more light on Midwesterners transition from Depression to war.

Administrative forensics- Gibson claimed compliance with wartime shifts to military needs but actually produced a number of now rare Gibson Banner guitars that later fell onto the hands of Buddy Holly, Woody Guthrie, lately Christie’s auctions. Why the secrecy is what this reader found most intriguing.

The title is misleading, given the relative focus placed on Gibson’s female workforce- and the timing of publication hints at positioning the book to market with others released at that time on women’s overlooked contributions to WW2 society. The book has an available soundtrack- another marketing gambit?

Rather than a book format, separate in-depth articles of these diverse topics strategically placed likely more effective in reaching the target audiences.

[Ken McEntire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just inherited one of these guitars, I wanted to learn more about the history. The author did a great job making the history come alive. It was great to get the entire history of both the instruments and those that made them.

[Josh Yenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting for a VERY small subset of humans! Basically those of us that own Banner gibsons!

[Tim Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. If you are a geek about guitars or history, this will be a good one for you. I enjoyed it.

[Bryan M. Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book for guitar lovers and Gibson fans.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some years ago, John Thomas stumbled across a World War II-era photo of a large group of women posing in front of the Gibson Guitar company. The picture haunted him. Who were these women? What was their connection to Gibson? Could any of them still be located? Eventually, Thomas set out to answer these questions, a project that ended up taking him five years.

Like many other manufacturers at the time, Gibson converted the preponderance of its resources to the making of wartime products. Moreover, there were numerous government-imposed constraints on materials traditionally used for guitar construction. Accordingly, Gibson eliminated metal truss rods, introduced lighter-weight tuners, employed plywood in some instances, and frequently built guitar tops out of multiple pieces of wood rather than the standard two pieces (visually concealing this with a "sunburst" finish). The company went so far as to deny publicly that it was building guitars during World War II, but archival records establish that they actually produced about 25,000 instruments from 1942 to 1945. More than one-third of those guitars are readily identifiable by a banner placed on their head-stocks, proclaiming that "Only a Gibson is Good Enough". Given that approximately 90% of Gibson's male employees had joined the military service, it becomes evident that the women depicted in Thomas' photograph played a key role in producing Gibson guitars during the war.

What role, exactly, did those women play? Thomas was able to track some of them down, and his interviews reveal that they performed a number of different tasks, e.g., making and coiling strings, cutting and fitting mother-of-pearl inlays, bending and fitting bindings, shaping bridges, sanding and buffing. Apparently, the rough cutting and assembly of guitar bodies and necks was done by men. Both groups, then, were essential, so it's a vast overstatement for the author to refer to the resulting products as "girl-made guitars" [p. 166]. Whatever the exact division of labor may have been, however, many collectors today prize Gibson's wartime instruments, regarding them as much better than "good enough". And they have been adopted by well-known musicians, including Woody Guthrie, Buddy Holly, and Russ Barenberg.

John Thomas has uncovered a very interesting story, but his book is marred by a number of flaws. First, he adopts a prose style which, while generally workmanlike, strives to present him as a down-home, regular, likeable guy (he's a law professor by profession), but he greatly overdoes this through his frequent interjection of bad jokes and corny asides. Second, his debt to the women he interviewed is significantly overpaid, for his transcripts include their reminiscences on all kinds of subjects unrelated to his main theme (Thomas seems unable to decide whether this is a book about guitars, or oral history project). Third, he tries his hand at dramatic recreation by conjuring up hokey, fictionalized conversations between Gibson employees, and he further pads his book with a chapter about various owners of the "banner" guitars, and a blow-by-blow account of the recording of a CD featuring one of those instruments. Fortunately, Kalamazoo Gals can be read or skimmed quickly, and it contains some nice photos (reproduced in color on an accompanying website). It's worth a look if you have an interest in vintage guitars.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Thomas is passionate about the "Banner"guitars made at Gibson during the war years. He makes a major meal out of some pretty light ingredients to conclude that the women war time workers were largely responsible for making the guitars and for making their acclaimed sound. I am sure that had the women not been there, the guitars would not have been made, but the rest of the case is pretty meager: is the feminine touch responsible for these guitars? I am hesitant to grant a qualitative difference to one gender or the other over something that is subjective and involves both craft work and assembly work.

Still, the story is interesting, and the memories of the "Kalamazoo Gals," such as they are, are nice to hear. The book really lags during the X-Ray analysis section. A lot of detail to try to prove a tenuous point. The only thing that can be said is that the construction of these guitars reflects the tight budgets and constraints of a war time economy. Thomas spills a lot of ink on this with little to show for it.

Finally, throughout the book he calls World War 2 "the Good War." Though not immediately touched by war myself, I have known people who lost friends and loved ones in both World Wars 1 & 2. Notwithstanding the appropriateness and moral imperatives of those wars, people who lost close ones in those wars have never, in my hearing, called either of those wars "good." I would refrain from using that kind of word choice in my own writing.

Finally, the book is poorly edited and replete with typos and awkward passages. Despite all these issues, Thomas' passion comes through.

[Danielle T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun read! John Thomas came to the Museum of Idaho to speak about his book (coinciding with the National Guitar Museum's stop in Idaho Falls (through November 30th! Don't miss it; it's great! /plug) ) Also proves that there's always mysteries to solve in history- an enigmatic photograph with no caption, and during a time when official company history says nothing but war production happened in the factory? Shipping ledgers that no one will acknowledge until a company insider stumbles across them in a storage closet? Another valuable aspect is the oral histories of the women (and one man) that Thomas interviewed.

My only quibble is some of the oral histories are repeated between the chapter describing The Good War and the sections where each Kalamazoo Gal or Guy is interviewed- very minor, but it pulled me out of the narrative (other people who read at a slower pace may appreciate the callbacks).

I don't have the companion CD, but I do plan on getting it at some point- those instruments really sing! I also wish more of the images from his Vintage Steel gallery were included- the project of X-raying the "Banner" Gibsons extended into X-raying all sorts of vintage guitars, resulting in some really lovely images that would make excellent prints (also part of the National Guitar Museum exhibit. GO SEEEEEEE IT).

[Monica Bond-Lamberty · Rating 3 out of 5]

First you have to understand what kind of book this is, it is not one that fits neatly into a single genre. Lot of oral history here and proper citations and all to make it appeal to a historian. But then there is a whole section of tongue in cheek speculation about what could have been said at a certain point in time and that might not appeal to those who like histories. Also for those who were brought up on Gordon Wood type of mysteries, the author does insert himself into the story which again might not appeal to some. For those seeking a book on women's history, this definitely has some, but one with major gaps given the lack of record keeping available from Gibson. Sadly the accompanying CD does not accompany the CD but you can buy it. There are parts that could bore a non-guitar buff what with x-rays of the insides of guitars and all, but it is an interesting book for students of guitars and history.

[Judy Carnago · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a wonderful tribute to the women in Kalamazoo who worked for Gibson Guitars during WWII. The history of the war, the area, & the company is fascinating. John's journey began with a photograph & a guitar that the Gibson company claimed never existed & it leads him on a great adventure to solve the mystery. His connection with the 12 women he interviewed for the book will bring smiles & tears & his reverence for the guitars they made will make you want to hold one so you can feel it "vibrate to the sounds in the room". Take the journey with John - you'll be thrilled.

[Larry Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alert: Guitar aficionados

Nostalgia is not what it used to be. 😄. Don’t despair. Books of this sort capture a bygone era and all that entails. Carefully researched and richly detailed, the author has created a heart-warming history that entertains and informs. Guitar lovers in particular will enjoy meeting the women who kept Gibson guitars alive and well, producing instruments known as Banner guitars during WW II. Readers will want to find and play one - possibly buy one.

[Lisa Mackie moaiery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers a very interesting story and it is one of the best books I've read in some time. As a guitar player, I find it especially interesting, but there is plenty in this book for those who don't play as well. As a lover of history, I am fascinated that the author was able to uncover this amazing story about these female luthiers who made guitars during WWII. I also liked all the pictures of "Banner" Gibsons this book contained.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great untold story, at least I was unaware of it.