Gibson ventured into the manufacture of violin-family instruments for a short period in the second half of the 1930s, ending in the early 1940s. Since supplies of commercial violins from Germany and Japan were unavailable due to the war, American manufacturers were protected for a time from this previously well-established overseas competition. Gibson-made cellos are rare and this example has some unusual features of construction borrowed from the company’s guitar-making heritage. The neck is made from three separate pieces of maple, with a dyed strip at the center. This lamination technique was used by Gibson, starting around 1905, to strengthen the necks of its mandolins prior to the introduction of the metal truss rod. It is unclear why Gibson chose to laminate the necks of the cellos, which normally require no reinforcement for stability. The Gibson cello is also lined with kerfed, or notched, wood strips, like a guitar, rather than employing the thin strips of spruce or willow standard in instruments of the violin family. The top and bottom blocks are rather massive and shaped much like those of a guitar. The back of the cello is made from pressed plywood, a technique that was still new to violin-family instruments, but one that would become common for twentieth-century student-line instruments.