The Omnivorous Reader
1945, seeking details unavailable in written sources: What was the culture at the Gibson plant? With what tasks were the female employees entrusted? What training did they receive? What memories did they have of working for Gibson? Did the male luthiers do most of the detailed construction work? Did the women see themselves as having created objets de vertu? Thomas’s inquiries met with varying success. In the intervening years, an innate human reticence and the self-effacing attitude prevalent among informants limited the collection of useful information, and the reader may wonder if Thomas will ever discover the secret to the construction of the banner guitars. But he does, finally, eke out a feasible explanation, albeit a trifle obvious, that will satisfy the reader’s curiosity. More importantly, the reader comes to know and appreciate the women who helped craft some of the finest stringed instruments of the last century. Thomas also traces the history of a few of the banner guitars and notes that the first LG-3 was shipped on August 20, 1942, to “Pendleton’s Music and Furniture Store in Sanborn, North Carolina.” Tar Heel readers will wonder if Sanborn is a misspelling of Sanford, since no Sanborn has ever been listed among North Carolina place names. Apparently, Gibson’s disdain for federal law didn’t end with the dissolution of the War Production Board. In 2011 — about the time The Kalamazoo Gals went to print — federal agents converged on two Gibson factories and seized illegally procured wood, an act of government intrusion that became an instant cause celebre for conservative media. In August 2012, the Justice Department reached a criminal enforcement “understanding” with Gibson for violating a federal law that makes it illegal to import plant products, in Gibson’s case Madagascar ebony for fingerboards, in violation of another country’s laws. While the case was being settled, Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson Guitars, hit the talk show circuit and insisted that “the Obama Justice Department wants us to just shut our doors and go away,” and he vowed to continue to fight for the Gibson and its workers. It seems unlikely that the corporate culture that duped the War Production Board in the early ’40s was still in force when Gibson hoarded the illegal ebony, but this much is certain: What went ’round came ’round, even if it took 70 years. PS Stephen Smith’s most recent book of poetry is A Short Report on the Fire at Woolworths. He can be reached at travisses@hotmail.com.
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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 2014 19