Mark's Gibson Guitar (and some songbooks and tools)

Back on July 13, two of our granddaughters, Holly and Lindsey, came to visit me. I'd decided to give them Mark's 1958 Gibson guitar, that he told me he bought at a pawn shop in Lubbock (when he was a student at what was then Texas Technological College, 1960-65) for some ridiculously low price ($25 or $50, I can't remember which).  A lightweight guitar case came with it, which can be seen in the background in the photo above, which is of Mark and oldest daughter Kim (Holly's mom), taken in or before November 1965.

Sixty years later, the case in the photo was pretty beat up, but Lindsey had an extra one at home that she put the guitar into, and sent me this picture:

Above:  Mark's 1958 Gibson guitar in its "new" case.

Below:  Lindsey tries out the Gibson.

I never got to hear Mark play this guitar in Corpus Christi.  When we got back together in 2006, the arthritis in his hands had gotten so bad that he could no longer play.  Nevertheless, he'd kept this guitar (as well as a Martin he bought in 1992 and gave to son Drew between 2007 and 2018).  

I remember trying to find a place to repair the Gibson back in 2006 or 2007 - there wasn't a place locally back then.  Amazingly, just before Holly and Lindsey visited, I found a retired gentleman just 15 minutes away who restrung and tuned it, and cleaned and polished it, all for a very reasonable price.

The guitar has T 5365 7 stamped inside the sound hole at the bottom of the neck.  I used a number of websites that all indicated the T meant the guitar was made in 1958.

While they were here, we also looked through some old photo albums.  Lindsey spotted the guitar, or its case, in a number of them from 1964 and 1965.  A few days after they left, I was scanning a bunch of old black-and-white negatives that had Mark in the images, and I found another with the guitar, from about 1979.

Above:  Mark with oldest daughter Kim in Lubbock, June 1964.

Below:  Mark with daughters Kim and Noël in Corpus Christi, about 1979.

Above:  Mark with daughter Kim in Lubbock, late 1964.

Below:  Mark's parents Francis and Jewel Moore Gresham with granddaughter Kim in Lubbock, June 1964.

I also gave the girls some of Mark's music / song books.  A few had notes inside them.  The Josh White Song Book, published in 1963, was a first Father's Day gift to Mark from his parents and sisters Ann and June, during their visit to Lubbock in June 1964, pictured above.

Above:  Mark's 1963 Josh White Song Book

Below:  "To Mark on your first Father's Day from all the family," written on the first page of The Josh White Song Book.  It's also stamped with the name and address of the shop in Bremerton, Washington (where Mark's parents and sisters lived at the time) where it was purchased.

Another was The Judy Collins Songbook from 1969, where Mark had made some notes about chords on the song "Early Mornin' Rain," a favorite for both of us, written by Gordon Lightfoot (my favorite solo singer).

Above:  Mark's 1969 Judy Collins Songbook

Below:  "Early Mornin' Rain" by Gordon Lightfoot in The Judy Collins Songbook, where Mark made some notes about chords.

Mark also had a few copies of Reprints From Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine, including the one pictured below, Volume Three from 1961, where he'd made some notes on the song "East Virginia."  (Mark also borrowed a book about the folk songs of North America from the Texas Tech library, and forgot to return it.  I'll be doing that soon.) 

Above:  Volume Three of Mark's Reprints From Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine.

Below:  The song "East Virginia" in Volume Three, with Mark's notes.

Holly sent a picture of the songbooks on her bookshelf.  Besides the ones mentioned (the Reprints booklets are stored in the piano bench), I also gave her Mark's 1964 Joan Baez Songbook and his 1973 Carole King Anthology: From Then to Now.

Above:  Mark's songbooks are the four to the right on Holly's bookshelf.

Below:  Holly with a couple of Mark's tools that she picked out.  The one on the left (in her right hand) is a Buffalo impact driver (apparently vintage) and the one on the right (in her left hand) is a Sears Craftsman beam style torque wrench (also vintage).  She actually knew what they were and what they are used for.

Holly is quite the handywoman, and was very interested in Mark's tools.  Besides the two she's pictured with above, she also took Mark's Sears Craftsman 6-inch bench vise.  Now, this is a tool I've actually used recently - to crack open glued cassette tape cases, to move the broken tapes inside to cases (with tapes I didn't like) that are sealed with easy-to-open screws.  I figure if I need to do that again, a neighbor will let me borrow a bench vise.  I still have plenty of clamps.

Above and below - Mark's bench vise installed on Holly's workbench.

Holly and Lindsey plan to come back in the autumn, when it's cooler and they have more time, and stay overnight, and help me sort through Mark's tools, many of which he inherited from his dad, to determine what to keep and what to pass on to the kids and grandkids.  There are at least eight toolboxes full, plus assorted other tools on Mark's two workbenches, hanging on a pegboard, or in/on various cabinets, drawers, and shelves in the garage.  I hope Lindsey will play for us on Mark's former guitar.

© Amanda Pape - 2025 - e-mail me!