Kalamazoo Gals

[fortyearspickn]

23 minutes ago, havasasabata said:

I understand that you were not able to share the enthusiasm of the author of the book, and that’s okay. Sometimes interest in a certain topic can be ambiguous for different people.

I need to find out where to become that tactful.   'Dale Carnegie' didn't take I guess. 

[PrairieDog]

Hey, JT congratulations on a great accomplishment. I did not put two and two together that it was your book.  Writing book length technical reports for a living, (some run 400 pages plus) I am well aware just how difficult it is to create a popular work people want to actually read.  We are known for at least creating better than average tech docs, probably because we take an effort to emphasize the social history that is relevant to interpret the otherwise dry data we collect. It has been on my list, but I’m going to grab it sooner now, for sure.  

I’m really fascinated by the women who managed to do all “the men’s work” while the boys were away, and then just got swept aside when they came back home.  My ex MIL was one of the gals who flew the planes between bases, and my current (late) grand MIL worked in the ship yards, among other tasks.

She lived in Nevada after the war and used to see the atomic test flashes out her kitchen window.  Out of seven children only two have survived into their 70s.  Most died terribly prematurely of illnesses that could be associated with radiation exposure. I’ll just leave that there.  

Anyway, both women couldn’t find good paying jobs after the war, because “they didn’t have any experience.” Omg.    

[jt]

1 hour ago, PrairieDog said:

Hey, JT congratulations on a great accomplishment. I did not put two and two together that it was your book.  Writing book length technical reports for a living, (some run 400 pages plus) I am well aware just how difficult it is to create a popular work people want to actually read.  We are known for at least creating better than average tech docs, probably because we take an effort to emphasize the social history that is relevant to interpret the otherwise dry data we collect. It has been on my list, but I’m going to grab it sooner now, for sure.  

I’m really fascinated by the women who managed to do all “the men’s work” while the boys were away, and then just got swept aside when they came back home.  My ex MIL was one of the gals who flew the planes between bases, and my current (late) grand MIL worked in the ship yards, among other tasks.

She lived in Nevada after the war and used to see the atomic test flashes out her kitchen window.  Out of seven children only two have survived into their 70s.  Most died terribly prematurely of illnesses that could be associated with radiation exposure. I’ll just leave that there.  

Anyway, both women couldn’t find good paying jobs after the war, because “they didn’t have any experience.” Omg.    

Thank you for the kind words and for telling the story of your ex-MIL.

[dhanners623]

I always meant to write this sooner, but didn’t. It is unfortunate that the OP couldn’t get into the book, because it is an excellent history not only of something that fascinates us — Gibson guitars — but about how life went on on the American homefront during wartime.

John’s book is no small feat. I was a newspaper reporter for close to four decades and I can tell you that tracking down business and government records from the 1940s is hard work. Tracking down and interviewing the workers still living was also a big task, and John came up with innovative approaches for doing that.

If you’re reading those remembrances and oral histories for slam-bang action or some great epiphany about Gibson then, yeah, you’re probably not going to be enthusiastic about their stories. But any historian will tell you the magic is in telling how normal people carried on in times of national stress. That is, in large part, why people love reading Shelby Foote or Howard Zinn.

It is amazing to think that a bunch of women not formally schooled in lutherie turned out guitars that would one day become iconic and much sought-after because of their sound, which is what we mainly prize in guitars. Add to that the company’s sexist inability to admit women made up most of the factory and it is a great story. I mean, Jeezamae. Rosie the Riveter was building bombers that American airmen trusted with their lives, but musicians’ egos were too fragile to play a guitar built by Lucy the Luthier?

I found it fascinating to learn that a trait many of the women shared was that they were good seamstresses. Surely the attention to detail required for sewing helped them build wonderful instruments.
 

John covered a lot of ground and covered it well. It is narrow thinking to believe it’s a book only for guitar fanatics in general and Gibson fanatics in particular. It is also an interesting history of the how a corporation behaved during wartime, and the subterfuge it decided to employ to meet a demand.

 

[jt]

1 hour ago, dhanners623 said:

I always meant to write this sooner, but didn’t. It is unfortunate that the OP couldn’t get into the book, because it is an excellent history not only of something that fascinates us — Gibson guitars — but about how life went on on the American homefront during wartime. ...

 

Oh, my. Thank you for the kind words.

Frankly, I feel honored that the OP took the time to post about my book. It still stuns me that folks care enough about the little book that changed my life to discuss it publicly.

Of course, I'm pleased that guitar geeks, especially Gibson guitar geeks (I plead guilty to both charges!), have liked my book.  But historians, women's history academics, and, most important to me, regular folks who enjoy learning about history have praised my book. Heck, a Spanish website devoted to women in science has done a deep dive into the book: Mujeres con Ciencia

Kalamazoo Gals motivated Oxford University Press to commission me to write a "KalamazooGals-ification" of the science and art of the acoustic guitar. In my world, OUP is the pinnacle of publishers. I've nearly completed that manuscript (at about 400 pages of manuscript at this point). Look for The Acoustic Guitar: Inside the World’s Most Popular Musical Instrument (Oxford University Press) in a bookstore near you in, well, probably about a year.

Mostly though, because I'm on a 4-year journey with cancer, I've been thinking about my legacy.  Finding the Kalamazoo Gals story was one of the luckiest moments of my life. I know that I will have left a positive footprint on this planet, however small.  What a privilege.

John

 

[Dave F]

John,

Wishing you the best and enjoy every day. One of my older brothers is on that journey too.

Dave

[jt]

27 minutes ago, Dave F said:

John,

Wishing you the best and enjoy every day. One of my older brothers is on that journey too.

Dave

Thanks, Dave! It's been a privilege to be your virtual friend.

[cayine]

On 3/3/2023 at 2:17 PM, merciful-evans said:

So I just completed reading Kalamazoo Gals: A book about the women who worked at Gibson during WW2 and the production of 'the Banner Era' flat tops. 

Ultimately I found I couldn't get anywhere close to the enthusiasm that the writer (John Thomas) has for the subject. He studied ledgers and included x-ray images of the guitars etc. Nevertheless, the research about Orville Gibson was very good (his date of birth is as hard to verify as some of the guitars). Some of the wartime insights were interesting too. 

There had been a corporate denial that guitars were produced during this period, but about 2,000 were made; many from scraps and other permissible sources. They were not allowed truss rods. The writer asserts that 'a wartime Gibson is more responsive & has a smoother warmer tone than pre or post war Gibsons'.

I couldn't honestly recommend it to anyone other than an enthusiast for 'Banner' guitars. I would love a chance to play one though.

 

Junk Removal Bellevue WA

I just finished the book and walked right in here to post this.   Great job John.   When I'm performing,  I know that I'm doing it right if I can make someone laugh, or if I see a tear rising to someone's eye.  That is what this whole story telling gig is about, telling a story in a way that lets people feel the things experienced by your characters.  Well this book made me laugh out loud a number of times and I choked up a few times as well.   I'll say it again... Great Job ! I have a couple almost Gibsons... a 1940 Carson J Robison Recording King, and a 1938 Gibson built Washburn Solo, but now I guess I'm gonna have to find myself a banner J45. BTW add this to your collection of Gibson trivia.  The 1938 Washburn has a 5 piece laminated maple neck, with a non adjustable metal truss rod, that was originally built for an archtop.  You can tell because there's a big old wedge down either side of the heel which was used to lessen the neck angle from arch top to flat-top.  There was some other thread here awhile back that showed a number of late 30's Gibson flat-tops with these wedged neck heels.   I'll post a link if I can find it.   Did you mention that your guitar has one of these archtop necks?

[jt]

8 hours ago, cayine said:

I just finished the book and walked right in here to post this.   Great job John.   When I'm performing,  I know that I'm doing it right if I can make someone laugh, or if I see a tear rising to someone's eye.  That is what this whole story telling gig is about, telling a story in a way that lets people feel the things experienced by your characters.  Well this book made me laugh out loud a number of times and I choked up a few times as well.   I'll say it again... Great Job ! I have a couple almost Gibsons... a 1940 Carson J Robison Recording King, and a 1938 Gibson built Washburn Solo, but now I guess I'm gonna have to find myself a banner J45. BTW add this to your collection of Gibson trivia.  The 1938 Washburn has a 5 piece laminated maple neck, with a non adjustable metal truss rod, that was originally built for an archtop.  You can tell because there's a big old wedge down either side of the heel which was used to lessen the neck angle from arch top to flat-top.  There was some other thread here awhile back that showed a number of late 30's Gibson flat-tops with these wedged neck heels.   I'll post a link if I can find it.   Did you mention that your guitar has one of these archtop necks?

Thank you for the kind words!

That's a cool guitar that you have!

One of my Banners has a laminated neck. It's my went-to-WWII SJ:

 

[gearbasher]

On 2/18/2024 at 12:13 PM, PrairieDog said:

Hey, JT congratulations on a great accomplishment. I did not put two and two together that it was your book.  Writing book length technical reports for a living, (some run 400 pages plus) I am well aware just how difficult it is to create a popular work people want to actually read.  We are known for at least creating better than average tech docs, probably because we take an effort to emphasize the social history that is relevant to interpret the otherwise dry data we collect. It has been on my list, but I’m going to grab it sooner now, for sure.  

I’m really fascinated by the women who managed to do all “the men’s work” while the boys were away, and then just got swept aside when they came back home.  My ex MIL was one of the gals who flew the planes between bases, and my current (late) grand MIL worked in the ship yards, among other tasks.

She lived in Nevada after the war and used to see the atomic test flashes out her kitchen window.  Out of seven children only two have survived into their 70s.  Most died terribly prematurely of illnesses that could be associated with radiation exposure. I’ll just leave that there.  

Anyway, both women couldn’t find good paying jobs after the war, because “they didn’t have any experience.” Omg.    

I've worked on old pocket watches and every time I see this thread I think of the Radium Girls. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls

Edited February 22 by gearbasher

[PrairieDog]

2 hours ago, gearbasher said:

I've worked on old pocket watches and every time I see this thread I think of the Radium Girls. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls

Nod, that is an especially tragic bit of history of women in the workforce.  Especially since there is so much evidence the companies knew what was happening long before there was any outrage over it. Humans as disposable tools, “Plenty of girls looking for work.”

Related side story?  

When I was a tyke learning to tell time, my grandfather, who collected clocks, sent me a cool Art Deco-style alarm clock with big “glow in the dark” numerals.  I was enthralled with it.  I’d be awake at night often and the glow lit up the room and I found it comforting.  When my friends came over, we’d go in the closet to show it off.  It earned me some serious cool-toy factor.  

Anyway, my mom was not paying attention at first, but after some days finally clued in, remembering the radium scares.  It dawned on her, Grandpa had probably sent an original radium clock, and pitched it right out. 

I took away from the very involved adult explanation why I couldn’t have my favorite thing:

          1. That words ending in “-ium” indicates terrible danger.

          2. I would now spend dark midnights contemplating how I have been “contaminated,” and worrying about all the horrible mutations looming ahead. 

My treasure was replaced with a lame Disney model, with tiny, safe blue dots for telling time at night.  

Edited February 22 by PrairieDog

[Lars68]

John, I'm so sorry to hear about your battle with cancer. I had no idea. I hope the worst is behind you, and wish you all the best. I know all too well what a terrible desease it is. My mother died from it, aged only 59, after being ill for only four months, and my significant other had a serious battle just recently with an agressive type of breast cancer. It leaves not only deep physical scares, but mental ones as well, both for those with the desease and for the ones close by.

Lars

 

Edited February 23 by Lars68

[jt]

2 hours ago, Lars68 said:

John, I'm so sorry to hear about your battle with cancer. I had no idea. I hope the worst is behind you, and wish you all the best. I know all too well what a terrible desease it is. My mother died from it, aged only 59, after being ill for only four months, and my significant other had a serious battle just recently with an agressive type of breast cancer. It leaves not only deep physical scares, but mental ones as well, both for those with the desease and for the ones close by.

Lars

 

Thank you, my friend.

It has been a fascinating, 4-year journey. There are interesting times ahead of me. I will live every moment to my fullest. And, yeah, I'll play my Gibsons as often as I can.