Kind of whatever.... For one grandmother it was the mandolin. For my dad's generation it was being in a big band and he did gig with his clarinet and saxophone when I was young. What did I do in the 1970s when my grandmother's mandolin was available and I had my trumpet? I sold the trumpet for a guitar.
My only mistake was believing the hype and buying the Ovation instead of the D-18 and D-28 I looked at the same time.
Some of the growth was from hype and speculation. Guitars as props for fashion, and let's not forget that brief time BestBuy stores became music stores.
There's still a jazz band in my kids' school. Some still play guitar.
