Pontiac Buggy Co. - Western Amesbury Line Store Card ND

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Toothed border

Script: Latin

Lettering:
•WESTERN•AMESBURY•LINE•
IS WORTH
100 CENTS
ON THE DOLLAR
IN GOLD
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
WHOLESALE
MANUFACTURERS OF
VEHICLES
•PONTIAC•BUGGY•CO•
PONTIAC, MICH.

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Father of the Pontiac motor car
In 1893, Edward M. Murphy established the Pontiac Buggy Company in Pontiac, Michigan and produced horse drawn carriages thru 1906.
Beginning in 1853, Amesbury, MA became famous for building carriages, a trade which evolved into the manufacture of automobile bodies. Possibly this is the derivation of the Pontiac Buggy name, "Western Amesbury Line." (me)
(Amesbury was recognized to be one of the most important carriage making cities in the world. The workers were far and away the most skilled workers and the highest paid. Between April 17-20, 1884, sixty-five carloads of carriages were shipped. Merrimac was formerly West Amesbury until 1876 and almost all the carriage industry was congested into a small area of the city. http://www.amesburycity.com/carriagemakers.htm)
More on Amesbury vehicles http://www.earlyamericanautomobiles.com/amesburyautos4.htm
As it became clear that motorcar sales were surpassing carriages, Murphy incorporated the Oakland Motor Car Company in 1907, an offshoot of his Pontiac Buggy Company. Murphy is said to have chosen the name Oakland for his car venture, located in the Oakland County of Michigan, city of Pontiac, because cross-town rival Pontiac Spring and Wagon Works already was making a high-wheel motor wagon under the Pontiac name. In 1908, the Oakland Motor Car Company and the Pontiac Spring and Wagon Works merged together under the Oakland Motor Car Company. Later in 1908, the first Oaklands went to market. The first Oaklands used an unusual Alanson Brush designed two cylinder vertical engine, which rotated counterclockwise. This type of engine was common in French cars but not popular with American engineers. The engines worked fine, but the cars did not sell well. In 1909, Murphy sold 50% interest in the Oakland Motor Car Company to William Durant. The Oakland found itself as a charter member of Durant’s newly formed General Motors empire. In 1909, Oakland introduced new engines, new body styles and new models, which greatly increased sales, but unexpectedly during the summer of 1909, Murphy died and a few months later General Motors purchased full control of Oakland Motor Car Company. The Oakland brand was produced thru 1931 by the Oakland Motors Division of General Motors, but in 1932 the Oakland name was dropped and the Oakland Motor Division became Pontiac Motor Car Company.
https://foreverpontiac.com/topic/230-1893-pontiac-buggy-company-to-2010-pontiac/

The Fate of the Pontiac Buggy Company
Emerson-Brantingham was on a buying spree during 1912 and purchased the Pontiac Buggy Company in August, 1912. They also purchased the Newton Wagon Manufacturing Co. of Batavia, Illinois at the same time. The Emerson-Brantingham Company of Rockford, Illinois produced a complete line of farm implements and associated equipment and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
By the 1920s, Emerson-Brantingham had added automobile bodies and fenders to the products built by the former Pontiac Buggy Company. During the depression, Emerson-Brantingham ran into difficulties and was purchased by J.I. Case of Racine, Wisconsin in November of 1928.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222011142999