120 Years of Gibson?

[JennySuzuki]

So, does anyone else think that Gibson is stretching things a bit with their "120 Year" anniversary this year? Here's what the Wikipedia article has to say about the company's founding:

Orville Gibson began to sell his instruments in 1894 out of a one-room workshop in Kalamazoo Michigan. In 1902 Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd. was incorporated to market the instruments.

So... by my count, their 120th anniversary shouldn't be until 2022. Then again, they did do their 100th anniversary models in 1994, not 2002. Your thoughts?

 

[f.c.geil]

This is their 120th anniversary. Orville was selling Gibson guitars in 1894, and this is 2014. There is continuity here, and believably so. He didn't incorporate until 1902. Perhaps he wanted to be sure he had a viable company on his hands, or maybe he was too busy building guitars to build a company, or... there are plenty of possible reasons for a move like this, and most of them are legitimate. This isn't a situation like that of Harley Davidson in which they claim 1903 as their first year, even though they never even drew anything until 1905, and never built a motorcycle until 1908. At least Gibson's claim has a basis in reality.