Kalamazoo Gals: A Story of Extraordinary Women & Gibson's "Banner" Guitars of World War II

The book revolves around the interviews of a dozen women who appeared in the Gibson Guitar Company's 1944 workforce photograph. Gibson had claimed in Wartime advertisements and in a 1973 company history authored by its WWII personnel director that it ceased producing guitars during the War; the younger members of its workforce had left to serve the military effort; the remaining seasoned craftsmen repaired some instruments but, because of their limited numbers and wartime restrictions on the use of raw materials, were unable to construct new musical instruments. The author, however, has discovered that the female workforce produced nearly 25,000 instruments during the war.