toy mann.
/ˈtɔɪ mən/, /ˈtɔɪ man/, U.S. /ˈtɔɪ mən/ 1. A person (esp. a man) who sells trinkets, knick knacks, or fashion accessories; the owner of a fancy-goods shop. Cf. toy shop n. 2. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of toys or trinkets
hobby-horse man1631
baby-seller1634
toy man1682
toy-woman1688
toy man1860
1682 T. Hoy tr. Ovid Two Ess. 26 The Toy-man shall by Accident be there, And in your sight display his Costly Ware.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. iv. 216 The Pocket-Book..had cost five and twenty Shillings, having been bought of a celebrated Toyman . View more context for this quotation
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab Notes 140 The jeweller, the toyman, the actor gains fame and wealth by the exercise of his useless and ridiculous art.
2004 M. Berg in R. Floud & P. Johnson Cambr. Econ. Hist. Mod. Brit. (2006) I. xiii. 383 Consumers were educated in or initiated into good taste, or they relied on intermediaries from milliners and mercers to toymen and upholders.
2. A person (esp. a man) who makes or sells playthings for children. Cf. toy shop n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of toys or trinkets
hobby-horse man1631
baby-seller1634
toy man1682
toy-woman1688
toy man1860
1860 Illustr. London News 7 Jan. 24/1 The cackling old toyman, who himself would have made no bad design for a jumping jack, extolling the merits of..the great talking doll that said ‘Mamma’ nearly as plainly as a talking fish.
1963 Sunday Times 29 Dec. 19/2 We now export more toys to Germany than they export to us, a thought which has kept our toy men smiling all over Christmas.
2005 T. Walsh Timeless Toys 78/2 Being a toy man, he probably was aware of at least the Transogram game.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1682