Pedigree Query

Just curious if anyone knows the origin of "pinhooking" as far as to why they call it that cant find a real definition of why they call buying and reselling pinhooking, such a funny word and term for selling t-breds. anyone know how that came to be?

Found on the internet:

By definition, "pinhooking" is a term used to describe the activities of an individual who hangs around the entrance of a livestock yard with the intention of buying livestock from incoming farmers. The purpose was to buy animals from the farmer for less money than they could get from the auction inside. This was a very common practice and still exists at smaller livestock yards in rural areas. The IRS has curtailed this practice at large livestock auctions; however, the practice still exists to some extent. Sometimes, the "pinhookers" would make money, sometimes they would lose. Generally, the transaction was not recorded, and therefore, the IRS did not get their share of any profits. The term was coined to describe the attempt to "hook" you on the price of the animal, if possible. In most cases, that is exactly what happened.

Etymological Note: This is a jargonized variation of pinhook defined by the Dictionary of American Regional English as “to act as a pinhooker,...a small-time speculator in farm products, esp. tobacco, esp. one who buys directly from farmers.” DARE traces the origins of later forms to the adjective pinhook, meaning “petty, small-time,” which is recorded as early as 1834 in Davy Crockett’s Narrative Life.

I heard a story about pinhooking, it had something to do with produce buyers and a device they held in their hand (a big hook) to stop the bale of produce they wanted to purchase, and make an offer as it was being unloaded.

Hope that helps.

I grew up on a tobacco/dairy farm and the term pinhooking to me refers to the independent buyers at tobacco auctions who purchased piles of tobacco that they could improve by removing undesirable leaves and thus upgrade the value of the remaining tobacco.. They used "pinhooks" to drag the basket of tobacco to a remote section of the warehouse for the upgrade..

This certainly fits what Dray found and it's easy to see how the term came to be used for buyers that purchase auction horses that can be upgraded and resold for a profit.

griff

Interesting information! Thanks.

Yes, thanks Its such a funny word, to me