Gibson was founded by Joshua Hall in Belding, Michigan, in 1877 as the Belding-Hall Company selling cabinets that housed blocks of ice (ice-boxes). The area around Belding, Michigan, had a skilled workforce of Danish craftsmen and a good supply of hardwoods including ash. The company was purchased by Frank Gibson, a competing manufacturer of "ice refrigerators" in the early 1900s. It was the largest in its industry at the time. In 1931, the company began making electric refrigerators.[1]
During the Second World War, Gibson manufactured 1,078 Waco CG-4 troop and cargo assault gliders under license.
The company claims to have innovated the refrigerator light, the upright freezer, and the "Air Sweep" mechanism for distributing conditioned air.