As shown in Image 1, his controversial career was documented in “Painless Parker Outlaw: His Confessions,” published by M.G. McClinton & Company in 1926.
Early Years and Natural Born Salesmanship
Born in Tynemouth Creek, New Brunswick in 1872, Parker showed evidence of his entrepreneurial spirit from a young age. At just 7 years old, he sold the school playground to a fellow classmate for 20 cents. By age 9, he was bartering with neighbors to obtain a hen, eggs, and a chicken coop, with plans to become a chicken farmer. This early venture soon evolved into gathering and selling dulce (seaweed), intending to use the money to open a store on the beach in front of his family home.
Education and Restless Youth
The Parker family moved to St. Martins in 1884, where Edgar attended high school. Two years later, he enrolled at Acadia College in Nova Scotia to pursue a theological career at his Baptist parents’ suggestion. However, this path proved unsuitable for the rebellious and mischievous young man, who feigned illness and was sent home.
When his family relocated to Saint John, Edgar attended Leinster Street School, where he earned the nickname “hookey” for his frequent absences. After moving to Moncton, he found success as a notions peddler until his father, disapproving of this “flamboyant and unprofessional” career, sold Edgar’s wagon and horse.
Journey to Dentistry
This parental intervention prompted Edgar to leave home and sign on to one of his uncle’s ships heading to Barbados. He remained at sea until sustaining an injury—three fractured vertebrae—and contracting dengue fever, which landed him in a hospital in Buenos Aires. Parker returned home in 1889 and spent the entire summer hospitalized.
While determining his future career, Parker was impressed by the doctors he had encountered during his hospital stay and considered becoming a physician. However, his mother, a Christian Science convert who rejected medicine, disapproved. Through phrenology (the study of the shape and size of the skull as an indication of character), it was determined that Edgar would be suited to dentistry. He was drawn to the idea of saving people from the type of pain his mother had endured with an impacted wisdom tooth.
Dental Education and Early Practice
In 1889, at just 17 years old, Parker enrolled at the New York College of Dentistry. To support himself financially, he performed door-to-door dentistry and established an office before graduating—actions that violated college policies and led to his expulsion. Returning to New Brunswick, he worked as an itinerant dentist in rural areas before attending the Philadelphia Dental College, where he graduated in 1892 at age 20.
As Image 2 shows, Parker would later use advertisement cards featuring photographs of himself from both 1892 and 1950, documenting his long career in dentistry.
The Birth of “Painless Parker”
Parker first established his practice in a St. Martins barbershop but found business slow. Determined to demonstrate the importance of dental health, he combined his dental skills with salesmanship and customer psychology. He hired a brightly painted wagon and cornet and took to the streets, seeing himself as both a patient advocate and a professional crusader.
In Hampton, NB, Parker borrowed a wagon from the Hotel Leonard to deliver prepared talks on dental health. He emphasized the “painless” aspect of his dentistry, using a new painkilling discovery called hydrocaine, and offered $5.00 to any patient who experienced pain during treatment. Some observers noted that he blew his cornet so loudly that no cries of pain could be heard. After just two weeks in Hampton, Parker headed west, practicing in various locations across the United States and in Victoria, BC.
Theatrical Dentistry
As illustrated in Image 3, Parker eventually embraced a theatrical approach to dentistry. An 1890s broadside advertises “A grand free open air concert at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. every day consisting of vocal and instrumental music. Teeth extracted free of charge, without pain.”
In 1894, he returned to Saint John and assembled a troupe of performers, touring New Brunswick and Maine with his street dentistry until authorities began questioning his unorthodox methods. Two years later, Parker moved to Brooklyn where his parents had relocated and married Frances Wolfe, whom he had previously met. The couple returned briefly to New Brunswick, where Parker opened an office in Moncton, but after legal troubles and a short stay in PEI, they headed to California.
The Business of Painless Dentistry
In Brooklyn, Parker met William Beebe, a 45-year veteran of the circus business, who convinced him he could combine dentistry and show business. Parker hired Beebe as his manager, who advised him to adopt the name “Painless Parker” and create huge signs advertising his practice. Beebe accompanied Parker in his wagon, playing musical instruments to attract potential patients.
After Beebe’s death in 1902, Parker moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his street exhibitions, combining dentistry with entertainment. He even purchased a circus and draped advertising on an elephant, actions that many felt mocked the dental profession. As shown in Image 4, in 1915, Parker officially changed his name to “Painless Parker,” as California law required dentists to practice under their licensed names.
Expanding Empire and Legacy
During the 1920s and 30s, Parker used every opportunity to publicize his dental practice. From 1923 to 1932, he expanded into Colorado, continuing his street dentistry despite ongoing licensing issues. Image 5 shows the January 1924 issue of “Occlusion,” a periodical related to Parker’s dental enterprise.
The Cash Book of the New Brunswick Dental Society from 1890-1934, shown in Image 6, documents the professional environment in which Parker began his controversial career.
At the time of his death in 1952, Parker had 26 offices under lease and had significantly influenced (for better or worse) the development of various codes of ethics, dental practice acts, and advertising practices in dentistry.
Personal Life
In his private life, Parker experienced the tragedy of losing one of his daughters in a car accident. He also had a strained relationship with his son Ned, who followed him into dentistry but took a markedly different approach. Unlike his flamboyant father, Ned was very private and practiced dentistry in a more conventional manner.
For those interested in learning more about this fascinating New Brunswick native, two biographies are available: “The Early Adventures of Painless Parker,” co-authored by Dr. Peter Pronych, a retired Professor of dentistry at Dalhousie University who has conducted extensive research on Parker, and “Painless Parker: A Dental Renegade’s Fight to Make Advertising ‘Ethical'” by Arden G. Christen and Peter M. Pronych.
