street-pitchers
Preserved but no longer current.
Negro minstrels, ballad-singers, long-song men, men "working a board" on which have been painted various exciting scenes in some terrible drama, the details of which the STREET PITCHER is bawling out, and selling in a little book or broadsheet (price one penny); or any persons who make a stand—i.e., a pitch—in the streets, and sell articles or contribute entertainments for a living.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “street-pitchers” mean?
Negro minstrels, ballad-singers, long-song men, men "working a board" on which have been painted various exciting scenes in some terrible drama, the details of which the STREET PITCHER is bawling out, and selling in a little book or broadsheet (price one penny); or any persons who make a stand—i.e., a pitch—in the streets, and sell articles or contribute entertainments for a living.
Is “street-pitchers” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.