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.
Epiphone
Epiphone is an American musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1957 Epiphone, Inc., of New York City was purchased by Chicago Musical Instrument Co. (CMI, the same company that bought Gibson in 1944) and given the name Epiphone, Inc. of Kalamazoo, Michigan. CMI took great measures to keep the Gibson and Epiphone identities separate and housed the two companies in different buildings each with its own separate management team. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market prior to 1957. Their professional archtops, including the Emperor, Deluxe, Broadway and Triumph, rivaled those of Gibson. Aside from guitars, Epiphone also made double basses, banjos, and other string instruments. However, the company's weakness in the aftermath of World War II and death of Epaminondas Stathopoulos in 1943 allowed Gibson's parent, CMI, to purchase it.