AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR, COSTELLO CENTURY

In 1933 the World Fair's was held in Chicago, Illinois to commemorate the city's centennial. Entitled A Century of Progress, the fair aroused widespread marketing exposure, which was quickly embraced by the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company, which was located 150 miles to the east in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Gibson produced a special variant of its popular L series guitar and named it the L-Century or L-C to commemorate the international exposition. Festooned with copious amounts of a celluloid based plastic called pearloid, the instrument was intended as an eye-catching presentation piece. Priced at $55.00, the guitar had only a small production run, and the last one was shipped in 1941. Today these instruments are highly sought after among collectors, including Elvis Costello, who popularized the L-C. In 2008 Gibson produced a copy of Costello’s 1936 L-C named the Elvis Costello Century of Progress. The guitar was offered at a list price of $5,633.00 and the limited production of 300 instruments quickly sold out.
Supplied directly by Gibson on 29th October 2008, this Costello Century was kept by David Gilmour for home use. Gilmour liked this guitar and played it often.