Gibson began in 1894 in his home workshop in
Kalamazoo, Michigan, and patented his idea for mandolins in 1898. He applied for and was granted a patent on the design. The sides too were carved out of a single block of wood, rather than being made of bent wood strips. On the strength of Gibson's ideas, five Kalamazoo businessmen formed the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co., Ltd., in 1902. Within a short period after the company was started, the board passed a motion that "Orville H. Gibson be paid only for the actual time he works for the Company." After that time, there is no clear indication whether he worked there full-time, or as a consultant. Julius Bellson states in his 1973 publication,
The Gibson Story, that "Orville Gibson had visions and dreams that were considered eccentric." 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 the U.S. His guitars were influential as well, and his guitar patterns are still recognizable in modern jazz guitars. Loar also designed the L-5 guitar. Among the changes that Loar introduced was the f-hole instead of a round or oval sound-hole, another violin-family feature imported to the mandolin. The L-5 guitar has found a home among jazz musicians. Starting in 1908, Gibson was paid a salary of $500 by Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Limited (equivalent to $20,000 a year in modern terms). He had a number of stays in hospitals between 1907 and 1911. In 1916, he was again hospitalized, and died on August 19, 1918, at 62 years of age, in St. Lawrence State Hospital in
Ogdensburg, New York. Gibson is buried at Morningside Cemetery in
Malone, New York. Gibson was born in
Chateaugay, New York. According to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, he was born in May, and his obituary published in
The Malone Farmer on Wednesday, August 21, 1918, states he died on August 19 and his funeral was held at the home of his brother O. M. Gibson on August 21. == Bibliography ==