🚗 Illegal car seller 📈 Street stock trader 🛒 Street goods seller

curbstoner

9.9

A person who traded stocks on the street outside a stock exchange in the past

noun
/ˈkɜːrbˌstoʊnər/

Archaic

: corredor de bolsa

In the early 1900s, a curbstoner would shout prices to attract buyers on Wall Street.

Examples

Many early investors relied on a curbstoner to handle their stock trades before regulations were established.
The rise of formal exchanges led to the decline of the curbstoner profession.
The curbstoner was shouting prices on the street corner.
Many curbstoners operated outside the stock exchange in the past.
In the early 1900s, a curbstoner would shout prices to attract buyers on Wall Street.
Many early investors relied on a curbstoner to handle their stock trades before regulations were established.
The rise of formal exchanges led to the decline of the curbstoner profession.

Synonyms

broker

vscurbstoner

243 3.5

A person who buys and sells things for other people for a fee

focuses on securities trades on the street outside official exchange venues

stockbroker

vscurbstoner

44 4.4

A person who buys and sells company shares for clients

operates outside official exchanges on the street usually in the past

stock trader

vscurbstoner

2 2.8

A person who buys and sells company shares to make money

operates outside official exchanges on the street rather than inside markets

Surface Forms

curbstoner singular

curbstoners plural

Morphology

curbstoner = curbstone (semi-transparent) = curb + stone + er

The word is built regularly from 'curbstone' plus agentive '-er', but the historical brokerage sense is specialized and not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Curbstoner comes from people who stood at the street curb or on the curbstone and shouted prices to attract buyers before formal stock exchanges existed. So, a curbstoner is a street broker who traded stocks out on the sidewalk rather than inside the official market.