How a 23-Year-Old Blew Up on TikTok for His Obsession With the Past
A few months ago, a friend sent me a TikTok of a twentysomething man wearing a coat from 1904 and making gumbo on an old-timey wood stove, while songs from early-20th-century musical duo Albert Campbell and Henry Burr played in the background. Entranced, I watched the young man chop his own wood, pump water from a well to clean his produce, and explain how the 1910 stove had been built with varying levels of heated cast-iron hot plates. A deeper dive into his other videos reveals various aspects of a charmingly retro life, from tours of his entirely antique apartment to tutorials on how to cook with a wooden stove, use a 1930s gas refrigerator, and fix radios from the 1930s and ’40s.
His name is Parker Edmondson. He also goes by Dr. Parkinstine, a play on “Frankenstein”—and it’s not always easy to tell where the wholesome TikTokker ends and the mad scientist character begins. Edmondson is a 23-year-old self-taught electrical engineering enthusiast, based in Jacksonville, Texas, who is obsessed with the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He has amassed an impressive collection of antique gadgets, which he often restores and repairs himself. His videos highlight not only the music and homemaking of that era, but also the science and technology. I spoke with Edmondson to find out just how a Gen Z TikTokker became interested in the olden days and the logistics of curation—and how he uses modern social media to share his knowledge of older science, technology, and culture. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Slate: How did you become interested in all of this older technology and culture?
Parker Edmondson: I’ve been interested in this old stuff for as long as I can remember. My absolute favorite time period is about the 1890s to the 1930s—the end of the Victorian era, the beginning of the modern Art Deco era. I remember the first memories of actually realizing I liked older music and stuff were when I was on my way to elementary school every morning. I would always listen to ’50s on 5—a radio station that was ’50s music—but I also liked 1920s music. I’ve always been interested in all the old antiques.
What about the science and technology of that era?
Science has always been my favorite subject. I guess part of it was the electrical technology back then, because I’ve always been fascinated by electricity. My dad’s an electrician; he taught me how to wire plugs when I was really little. So I wired my first plug at 2 years old, and I also got shocked for the first time at 2 years old. I’ve been shocked 194 times.
You’ve counted?
People are always asking me, so I was like, “Well, I might as well count.” People also always ask me how much education I have had. I’ve been through all of high school and elementary. I went to one semester of college, but I didn’t do well. I didn’t pass music theory—and I have my own music. I’m like, “How did that happen?” Then the pandemic happened, and they transitioned to online school, and I sat down to do online the first time and got up within 30 minutes and was doing something else. I couldn’t sit down and just do it. So, anyway, I haven’t been back to college.
One would think that, for someone who is so interested in technology, you’d be really interested in the present and the future. Why the fixation on the past?
Things were built to last back then. Like with my car [a 1928 Durant], the engine is as simple as can be, easy to work on, made to last. Houses were built better. Everything was built better. And there was so much detail in things. It wasn’t just thrown together as quick as could be so you could make a buck off of it. It was designed with detail, handcarved, ornate.
You obviously own a lot of relics, of both the inoperable variety, like furniture, and the operable variety, like machines and gadgets. Where do you get all of your items?
I usually find them online—eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace—and sometimes antiques stores. They’re not expensive at all. The most I’ve ever paid for a piece of furniture was $500.
And what about your car?
I think it was around $15,000. Way cheaper than a modern car. I found it online, on Streetside Classics. It was in their Tampa, Florida, showroom.
Have you gone anywhere with your car yet? And what do people say when they see you?
Yeah, I go to town. They’ll always stop me and wave. When I go to the gas station, they’ll always wave at me.
How do you afford to do this?
I manage social media at the local soda fountain. But when I need money, I do everything. If somebody needs a handyman or something, I can do pretty much anything with electricity and stuff like that. I have Parkinstine’s Antique Repair, but I always forget to advertise for it. I am repairing somebody’s radio right now, so I’ve started doing that more. And I started a business making a face wash for acne. It’s called Parkinstine’s Infusion of Roses. I found an old book with some skin care recipes in it, and I was like, None of these are being used today, and it was safe stuff. So I was like, OK, well, I’m going to make that and try it.
One of the things that I love about your TikTok is that it’s not just about science; it’s also about culture. My favorite videos are actually the cooking demonstrations. Do you like to cook?
I do. Well, cooking is science.
What’s your favorite thing to cook?
I love gumbo, Louisiana gumbo. It’s my favorite. I love cheesecake as well.
You even make music!
I wrote a song back in 2018 called “If You Should Ever Leave Me.” All I do is listen to music from between 1890 to 1934—ragtime and old jazz from the beginning of the Jazz Age. So that inspired me to write a song.
What did you record it on?
When I did it for iTunes, I recorded it on this phone right here. I just held up my phone on the piano and played and sang, no editing or anything, and just published it. But I do have several other versions of it. I have a 1920s microphone that uses C power; one time, I had a record made for me with it recorded that way. I lost that record in the fire at my old work. But I can easily have another one made, and actually I could make it myself. I have three record players that I’m repairing right now.
How old is your piano?
I have six pianos. My favorite one is from 1889. It’s that piano in the shed that I always play on in my TikTok videos. All of it is original except for three strings, and it’s in really good condition because it was built to last. I’m trying to get rid of some of them because why do I have six pianos?
What do you see in the future for yourself with your research and your TikTok?
In the future, I want to have an old house that can take people back in time—a museum, basically. I was thinking of maybe getting a house from 1920 or before, and then making it look exactly how it did, with no modern things in it, no televisions or anything. All I own is old stuff from before 1930, so I could do that with all the stuff I have now.
How do you feel about Elon Musk?
I think he’s a good businessman, but he’s like Thomas Edison, in a way. Edison was a good businessman. He got the lightbulb out to people and stuff, but he didn’t invent the lightbulb. A guy named Joseph Swan invented the lightbulb.
Do you think Musk’s use of Tesla overshadows all of Nikola Tesla’s other achievements?
Tesla would be rolling in his grave. When you look up stuff about Tesla, now you’re going to find the car and not Nikola Tesla.
Obviously you’re interested in a lot of older technology and ways of life. If you’re so interested in the past, then why get on TikTok?
One of my high school friends finally convinced me to get on TikTok. My first video got 250,000 views overnight, so I figured I could reach people and help the world that way. People are always telling me I’ve helped them through a rough day, and that’s my goal. It’s not popularity—it’s just to help the world as much as I can, make the world a better place, and help people think, stimulate their thinking so they can do stuff themselves and be creative. It’s to inspire people.
