A lazy Sunday afternoon in 1908 with the Welch Brothers

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A lovely photograph, and an equally lovely caption to go with it: “A Sunday afternoon tour, 1908, and a big part of Pontiac, MI stops to pose with the hometown product, a 1908 Welch.”

The Welch brothers (A.R. and Fred) began manufacturing cars in 1901, using a home-developed two-cylinder engine, said to be “probably the first to use a spherical combustion chamber.” Four- and six-cylinder models soon followed. The brothers were certainly forward-thinking there in Pontiac, Michigan, being the first American car company to introduce an overhead camshaft. Their double ignition system meant both a Bosch magneto and a battery-and-coil setup were used, operating independently and igniting separate spark plugs. In 1906 they even came out with a removable top, which could be used as a ‘cape top’ in summer, a half-limousine top in autumn, and a Pullman limousine in winter.

No shortage of creativity, imagination, or talent, it seems. But money proved the real obstacle for the Welch brothers. They proudly marketed and sold their vehicles under their own name for a decade, until 1911. That year, they were taken over by General Motors, and the momentum of more modern times took over.

The year 1908 and the town of Pontiac, Michigan may not seem to fit the mood at all. Still, we couldn’t help but think of Randy Newman’s wonderful song Dayton, Ohio, 1903.

Let's sing a song of long ago
When things were green and moving slow
And people'd stop to say hello
Or they'd say "Hi" to you
"Would you like to come over for tea
With the missus and me?
It's a real nice way to spend a day in Dayton, Ohio
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903"

Let's sing a song of long ago
When things could grow and days flowed quietly
The air was clean and you could see
And folks were nice to you
"Would you like to come over for tea
With the missus and me?
It's a real nice way to spend a day in Dayton, Ohio
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in nineteen hundred and three"

Words Jeroen Booij / Randy Newman
Picture New York Public Library

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