Friday Funny: A Portable Forge for Blacksmiths, Gunsmiths, and… DENTISTS???

Portable Forge and Bellows Advertisement in Smiths Brooklyn Directory for yr ending May 1 1857, page 18. via InternetArchive.
Portable Forge and Bellows Advertisement in Smiths Brooklyn Directory for yr ending May 1 1857, page 18. via InternetArchive. (Click to enlarge.)

Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

Well, maybe “not funny, hah ha” as my parents and grandparents would have said, but it does seem funny in this day to think that dentists would have needed a forge back in 1857. It makes sense though, when one realizes there are still metal fillings and gold inlays used in dental work. Having that wonderful power source called electricity makes it much easier for dentists in 2015.

Our Springsteen ancestors lived in Brooklyn just before this time- we know Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Connor Springsteen were there, and likely Jeff’s father and maybe siblings or cousins. (Anna’s family possibly too, though she was our immigrant ancestor in that line. She is very hard to trace because of her name and sex.) They may have visited a dentist with a forge out back!

Can you imagine sitting in the dentist’s chair, having him walk out, but instead of going to the next room to check on another patient, he goes out to the forge to create your new tooth or filling?? Think of the heat, smoke, noise, and fine dust of a forge, and the sulfur and other smells- no wonder people were afraid to go to the dentist!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Smiths Brooklyn Directory for yr ending May 1 1857, page 18. via InternetArchive.

 

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