Looking to wile away a winter weekend? Pennsylvania’s City of Firsts, Philadelphia, might hold the answer.
And for the tooth enthusiast, a “small but delightful” Historical Dental Museum at the Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia might be enough to make it a must.
It boasts antique dental student teaching aids, including a set of blue wax teeth created by students as part of their graduation requirements, and a historical profile of one of the school’s early graduates, Edgar Randolf Rudolf Parker, a k a Painless Parker. Visitors can learn how this showman of dentistry (using a bucket of teeth he had pulled at 50 cents a pop as a prop) “believed in bringing oral education and affordable services to everyone, bringing the dentist to them rather than bringing them to the dentist.”
And though this particular museum tour might not put visitors in an the mood for mouthwatering meals at Jim’s Steaks or Tony Luke’s, there’s all weekend for said pursuits.
Read more about Painless Parker and other unique dental and medical museums at Atlas Obscura: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/historical-dental-museum