Vanderbilt Cup Races

Earlier this week I sent Dr. Jack Binder, the historian for both the Town of North Hempstead and Village of Lake Success, a set of photos on the Manhasset Valley section of the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course. Dr Binder, a retired dentist, paid particular notice to this photo of Vincenzo Lancia driving his #4 Fiat.

Dr. Jack Binder: Howard- I took a close look at the great book of photos you gave me last night. Perhaps only a dentist will pick it up. The photo of car #4 Fiat driven by Vincenzo Lancia, rounding Northern Boulevard and Valley Road, going around what may be the jail on the right caught my attention. There are two signs at the corner of the building which I first though were the letter "A".

Dr.Jack Binder: Under magnification they are molar teeth- three roots. Above and below the teeth are the words " Painless Parker "

Dr. Jack Binder: The legend goes that Painless Parker was a dentist who traveled to small towns with a band to get a crowd. He performed a "painless" extraction by expertly and quickly extracting the patient's tooth before the crowd as the band at that moment played loudly to drown out the patients scream . Parker (he legally changed his first name to Painless) practiced dentistry in New York and later employed 70 dentists in California grossing $3 million dollars. His activity in Manhasset in 1906 must have been early in his career.

Thanks Dr. Binder for your contribution to VanderbiltCupRaces.com!

Links to other related VanderbiltCupRaces.com posts:

Painless Parker

1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race