panman

See also: pan man

English

Etymology

From pan +‎ -man.

Noun

panman (plural panmen)

1. A man who plays steelpan.
   • 1981, Bridget Brereton, A History of Modern Trinidad, 1783-1962, page 226:

     But the early steelbands were greeted with considerable hostility. The panmen were slum-dwellers, working-class men with little formal education; middle-class residents objected to the noise from the pan yards and associated the men with hooliganism and rough behaviour.

   • 1995, Stephen Stuempfle, The Steelband Movement: The Forging of a National Art in Trinidad, →ISBN, page 177:

     These older panmen are vital to the transmission of musical skills to the younger generation and provide youths with a sense of the steelband's history and importance.

   • 2009, Maria Pereira, A. Myrna Nurse, River of Fire: Incidents in the Life of a Woman Deputy Sheriff, →ISBN, page 12:

     From Monday through Friday they talked constantly about the previous Saturday-night fete: which panman (a steelband player or pan builder) went home with what girl.

2. One who works with pans.
   • 1788, The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure:

     Having, done this, the panman stirs together about a quart of spice, and a gallon of lime-water, and pours this mixture into each pan. When the sugar is again brought to a scalding heat, it throws up a second scum, not so foul as the first, which is removed as before.

   • 2012, Geraldine Murfin-Shaw, At Least She Never Drank Much, →ISBN, page 207:

     Our pans went to their kitchen to be washed, as we had not the sink capacity and they had a panman who came in specially.

   1. One who fills the molds for clay bricks.
      • 1905, Victor Selden Clark, Labor Conditions in Australia, page 116:

        In a dispute between the brickmakers and brick carters' employees and the employers' union, the issues settled contained, among other provisions, the following: Panmen, one to be employed at each pan, but when 2 pans feed from 1 shoot a boy or man to assist;

      • 1915, The British Clay Worker - Volume 23, page 268:

        South Wales -- Burners, setters, drawers, panmen, and machine men wanted.

   2. One who oversees the making of salt in a panhouse.
      • 1860, Walter White, All around the Wrekin, page 406:

        The panman's life seems as little to be envied as that of the women. He begins work on Monday morning and does not leave the shed till Saturday night, for no sooner is one boiling over than another begins, and he must be on the spot. His wife or assistant may go home for a few hours after the pan is refilled with brine until the formation of salt commences ; but for him there is no such respite, and he can only sleep by snatches.

      • 1895, Georg Lunge, A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid:

        The work of the panmen consists in moving, from time to time, towards the back of the pan the salt forming in its front part, by means of iron rakes (with a head 12 x 6 inches and a shank 12 feet long and 1 inch thick) introduced through the upper, free openings of the doors, and in pushing down into the liquor the crusts of salt forming in its front part, by means of iron rakes (with a head 12 x 5 inches and a shank 12 feet long and 1 inch thick) introduced through the upper, free openings of the doors, and in pushing down into the liquor the crusts of salt forming on the surface, as otherwise all evaporation would cease.

      • 1914, Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences:

        About 1600 there were produced about 7,650 weys of salt; and there were engaged about 430 panmen.

   3. One who oversees the steaming process in refining sugar.
      • 1888, The Planter and Sugar Manufacturer - Volume 1, page 108:

        The duty of a panman is to see the pan properly steamed out, to charge it with syrup and to turn on the syrup, keeping the coils well covered; and when the syrup is boiled down to a given consistency the panman sends for the sugar boiler, who then takes charge, forms the grain, which is the most critical part of sugar boiling, and then again turns the work over to the panman, with orders at what heat to keep the pan boiling;

      • 1892, The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer - Volume 9, page 341:

        Perhaps, through neglect, the panman allowed the strike to boil down too low, and charging up suddenly to hide the fault when the sugar had almost cooked to proof, "got grain" very much to his own surprise and disgust perhaps, for not knowing how to deal with this new phase in sugar making, he probably thought the strike spoilt, and gave it up for lost.

      • 1971, Central Gardens Association, Report on a Conference on Amenity in the Countryside, page 11:

        In some factories, where the number of pans is quite large it is the practice to appoint one head panman for all the three shifts to superfise the work of the panhouse. Usually, however, a panman is appointed to be in charge of a shift.

   4. One who operates a machine that whirls candy in a pan to give it a shiny smooth surface.
      • 1909, New York (State). Department of Labor, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor:

        Different concerns vary considerably in their methods and organization according to the special nature of their product, but the common divisions are for handwork: Chocolate and bonbon dippers and confectioners; and for machine work: Chocolate dippers, panmen, cream makers and moulders.

   5. One who loads cottonseed cakes into a press in order to extract cottonseed oil.
      • 1904, Leebert Lloyd Lamborn, Cottonseed Products: A Manual of the Treatment of Cottonseed for Its Products and Their Utilization in the Arts:

        The meal being dry and spongy, the former does not press the cakes small enough to let them go in the press-boxes with ease, so there is a hardship on the panman; after the pressure is put on them they will hang and stick to the boxes and break and scatter on the floor and perhaps you will not get one whole cake out of a pressing;

      • 1914, Mississippi. Supreme Court, Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of Mississippi:

        That Will Smith was a panman, or pan shoveler, whose duties as such were to take the cooked meal after it was formed from the former and load it in the press.

      • 1918, The National Provisioner - Volume 59, page 28:

        There you will find the expert cook, cake forming man, panman and strippers ; or in the smaller mills, combination of these.

Anagrams

• pannam