Gibson
Orville Gibson founded the company in 1902 as the "Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd." in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to make mandolin-family instruments. Gibson invented archtop guitars by constructing the same type of carved, arched tops used on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by Charlie Christian. In 1944, Gibson was bought by Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI), which was acquired in 1969 by Panama-based conglomerate Ecuadorian Company Limited (ECL), that changed its name in the same year to Norlin Corporation. Gibson was owned by Norlin Corporation from 1969 to 1986. In 1986, the company was acquired by a group led by Henry Juszkiewicz and David H. Berryman.
Joseph F. Sinnott
John Gibson's Son & Co. was established in 1854, when John Gibson became disappointed with the limited amount of whiskey he was able to buy from Monongahela distilleries for his growing business. Thus, in 1856, he started his own distillery and produced the first whiskey in 1857 at Gibsonton. Gibsonton was not only where the distilling took place but was also a town and home for the employees. The main offices of John Gibson's Son & Co would remain in Philadelphia, however, many other office branches were established in various locations such as Boston, Louisiana, Georgia. Sinnott left the army to oversee a new branch of John Gibson's Son & Co in Boston, Massachusetts in 1861. Sinnott returned to Philadelphia in 1866 to become a partner at John Gibson's Son & Co., and in 1884 became a co-owner upon the retirement of Gibson. Sinnott and Moore continued the partnership until Moore's death in 1888, after which Sinnott gained sole control of the firm.