Eastern California Museum in Independence, California

100 years ago, if you lived long enough in the rural American West, it was entirely reasonable, that at some point, you might find yourself with a ever shrinking amount of teeth and a surplus of coyotes. Such was the position George Washington Hancock found himself in the early part of the twentieth century in Independence, California. In desperate need of dentures and lacking the funds for professional pair from a dentist, George decided to take matters into his own hands. Melting down the handles of resin toothbrushes and using teeth from the local coyote population, George fashioned himself a remarkable and nightmare inducing set of prosthetic chompers which he wore for years. One can only speculate how popular this made him with other residents of Independence and sadly there are no known pictures of George wearing his coyote canines. In 1946, Dr. Douglas Dyer moved to the area to practice dentistry. Upon hearing of George and his dentures he sought out George and offered a trade of a professional set of dentures in exchange for this unique dental curiosity. After Dr. Dyer's death, his widow, Florence donated them to the Eastern California Museum which is where you can find th…

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