the kalamazoo gals: gibson guitar’s erased women
- June 8th, 2016
- Posted in random coolness . Uncategorized
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It’s a common story – lots of women enter the workforce during World War II, doing all the jobs normally restricted only to men, before millions had to go off to fight Fascism. Then the war was won, the soldiers came back, the women were forced back out.
But, at least, it was acknowledged, and, at least, some credit was given.
But not at Gibson Guitar. They officially say that they shipped no instruments during World War II at all – not a one. But that’s simply not true. They did – they made and shipped thousands of instruments, with a wartime workforce of women. Some even went with GIs overseas.

Women instrument makers, Gibson Guitars, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Apparently, management decided that people wouldn’t want instruments made by women, so they erased the Kalamazoo Gals from history. When law professor and music journalist John Thomas got a hint there had actually been wartime production, and found out the story, the acoustic department was initially very interested – and then corporate found out he had been digging, and started threatening him for revealing it. It’s fascinating:
Women guitar makers scratched from Gibson history
By Ryan Grimes
Women are constantly being erased from history, including music history. Sometimes more aggressively – and pointlessly – than others. Never forget that.
2 comments on Livejournal, 1333 notes with several comments on Tumblr.
Are any of these women still alive? They’d be high mileage, but there are plenty of people in their 90s…
Did Gibson produce any other war-related items? Many factories produced items other than what they were originally set up for.
A surprising number, really – Mr. Thomas (who wrote the book) talked to several, and one is even briefly speaking in the linked interview.