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.
Orville Gibson
Orville H. Gibson (May 1856 – August 19, 1918) was a luthier who founded the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1902, makers of guitars, mandolins and other instruments. His earliest known instrument was a 10-string mandolin-guitar, which bears the date 1894. His mandolins were "unlike any previous flatback instrument," according to music historian Paul Sparks. His company's manufacturing standards were very high, and his instruments heavily marketed. He and his company used music teachers to market the instruments, and strong print advertisements to displace the round-backed mandolins. They were successful in the mandolin market, eliminating the production of round-backed instruments in America. His guitars were influential as well, and his guitar patterns are still recognizable in modern jazz guitars.