panmen

Noun

panman (plural panmen)

1. A man who plays steelpan.
   • 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.1981, Bridget Brereton, A History of Modern Trinidad, 1783-1962, page 226
2. One who works with pans.
   • 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.1788, The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure
   1. One who fills the molds for clay bricks.
      • 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;1905, Victor Selden Clark, Labor Conditions in Australia, page 116
   2. One who oversees the making of salt in a panhouse.
      • 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...1860, Walter White, All around the Wrekin, page 406
   3. One who oversees the steaming process in refining sugar.
      • 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...1888, The Planter and Sugar Manufacturer - Volume 1, page 108
   4. One who operates a machine that whirls candy in a pan to give it a shiny smooth surface.
      • 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.1909, New York (State). Department of Labor, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor

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