Here's a not-so-great scan of another image of the orchestra that was apparently part of one of the early Gibson catalogs. From it I don't think we learn anything. Most interesting part of this is that there is someone in the Loar community that thinks their instrument also came out of this orchestra which would then account for all three Loars in the other photo that was a part of this interview. This is supported by someone well known to the community that has similar information separate from this interview. Over the weekend I had conversations with the granddaughter of the Semisch Loar owner and after showing the photo to her elderly mother I'm afraid we didn't get a firm identification, but are now following a couple of other names of people in the photo, a married couple. All interesting. No telling where this ends but I'm having fun with it. Also beginning to pick up the possibility there was an orchestra in Augusta, Kansas, which is maybe 15 miles from there. This being an area that had (and still has) a fairly major oil industry it's not surprising that some of the best instruments Gibson had available at the time might have ended up here. And then there's Wichita just down the road. No telling what the mandolin/guitar orchestra scene there may have held.
If only we could find the original sales logs of the instruments from this period, but it's doubtful they still exist.
Bookmarks