pitchmann.
/ˈpɪtʃmən/, U.S. /ˈpɪtʃm(ə)n/ Originally and chiefly U.S.
Originally: a person who sells gadgets, novelties, etc., esp. on the street or in a fair. Now chiefly: a person who delivers a sales pitch, esp. on television; an advertiser, a promoter.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > street vendor
costermonger?1518
street vendor1840
street trader1845
coster1851
handseller1851
patterer1851
umbrella man1851
gutter-man1892
dragger1896
gutter-merchant1896
pitcher1896
pitchman1914
pitchwoman1927
barrow boy1939
fly-pitcher1965
mama put1979
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > [noun] > advertiser
advertiser1712
pitchman1914
hidden persuaders1957
product champion1969
1914 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 1 May 8/3 St. Louis Louie and a couple other pitchmen wanted to commonwealth a Carnival company, Louie having a bankroll from selling 'scopes through the South.
1926 Amer. Speech Feb. 283/1 Pitchman, a man who sells novelties on the circus lot or on the streets adjacent to the lot.
1934 N.Y. Amer. 4 Oct. 21 The army of street pitchmen have had the biggest season in years.
1972 Guardian 6 Dec. 13/1 American astronauts..have become bank directors, pitchmen for cars and railroads on television commercials, executives in real estate.
1996 S. Bellow in Times 28 Aug. 12/4 While voters saw the local politicians as pitchmen for snake oil, they took national politics seriously.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1914