“Painless Parker” dentist, ca. 1896. Signs read “I am positively IT in painless dentistry.” This advertisement faces the triangular lot in the center of the three-way intersection of Flatbush, Atlantic, and Fourth Avenues. Edgar R. R. "Painless" Parker, "the wonderful wizard of painless dentistry," was the most flamboyant if not the best of all dentists. He employed dancing girls, a brass band, performing tigers and walruses, and a general circus setting to calm the masses frightened by dentistry. He arranged for a bugler to stand behind the patient and let fly with a mighty blast at the precise moment that Parker extracted the tooth..."painlessly." His enduring contribution may that he pioneered the concept of group dental practice: at his height Parker operated thirty West Coast dental offices, employed 75 dentists and grossed $3 million annually. When he died in 1952 the obituaries labeled him a "chain-store dentist." But he is remembered today principally for his stunts. After some years as a street dentist, extracting teeth at fifty cents per, he established spectacular headquarters in Brooklyn. He extracted 357 teeth in one day- on a vaudeville stage- and had a necklace made of them which he wore while practicing his trade.

Storefront signage is a ubiquitous feature on New York City streets. Today, signs can barely seem worth noticing, the well-known fonts and logos blending into the scenery. But when the streets of New York were lined with mom and pop shops, the design of signs (through fonts, images, and use of space) often allowed these individual stores to stand out. The diversity of signage is especially eye-catching in historical photographs.