Parker, Edgar “Painless”

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painless_Parker
  • Wiki Biography Notes:
    • Painless Parker (born Edgar R.R. Parker; March 22, 1872 – November 8, 1952) was a Canadian-born street dentist described as “a menace to the dignity of the profession” by the American Dental Association. However, some of the causes he championed, such as accessible dental care and advertising, have since been accepted.
    • Parker was born in Tynemouth Creek, New Brunswick, Canada. He studied at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and the Baptist Seminary in St. Martins, New Brunswick, but was expelled from both. He worked as a cook on a ship and as a travelling merchant. He decided to pursue medicine but found the costs prohibitive, so he instead enrolled at the New York College of Dentistry. Before receiving a degree, Parker founded a renegade door-to-door dentistry practice to make tuition. Because of this, he was expelled. He enrolled in Temple University School of Dentistry (formerly Philadelphia Dental College) and after pleading with the reluctant dean, he was granted a diploma in 1892. He returned to New Brunswick.
    • After six weeks without a single patient, he began to advertise. He founded a traveling medicine show, eventually known as Parker Dental Circus, and traveled across the North American wilderness on horseback, removing teeth from gold miners and saloon regulars. In 1897 he opened a practice in Brooklyn, New York.
    • n 1913, Parker purchased a traveling circus and became its ringmaster, performing dental work with sideshow acts such as elephants, contortionists, trapeze artists, clowns, and a loud brass band that attracted crowds. Parker charged 50 cents for each extraction and promised to pay each patient $5 if the procedure hurt. He numbed patients with a cocaine solution that he called “hydrocaine” and sometimes whiskey. To encourage participation, Painless began with a demonstration in which he pretended to yank a molar from a calm audience member, whom he had planted. During actual extractions, Painless had the band to play loudly to cover the patient’s moans and screams. At one point, he claimed to have pulled 357 teeth in one day, which he wore on a necklace.
    • A 2014 article from the New York Times described him as “A quintessential snake-oil salesman in goatee, top hat and cutaway coat, he established the first — and presumably last — sidewalk dental show.” 
  • Third Great Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=5980
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125011607/edgar-randolph-parker