Gibson Flattops: 1942 through 1945

Beginning in the early 1940s, Gibson's "Only a Gibson is Good Enough" slogan moved from the ad copy of Gibson's marketers, to the mouths of its artist endorsers, on to the pages of Gibson's catalogs, and, by 1942, it came to rest on the golden banners appearing on the headstocks of Gibson's World War II guitars. There it would reside for four short years, to disappear sometime in 1945, not again to be seen until the Gibson Company produced reissues in the 1990s of the guitars that many players and collectors contend represent Gibson's zenith.

Our hope with this website is to provide and collect information about Banner Gibsons. Most importantly, the Registry page may fill the vacuum created by Gibson's failure to keep detailed production records during the War years. By documenting Factory Order Numbers (FONs) and identifiable characteristics of the Banner guitars, we might be able to discover what makes "Good Enough" good enough.

The Book

 Kalamazoo Gals:

A Story of the Extraordinary Women and Gibson's  "Banner" Guitars of WWII

by John Thomas (American History Press, 2013)

The Film

The Kalamazoo Gals Documentary Film Trailer