Huckster

A huckster is a seller of small articles, usually of cheap or shoddy quality, or one engaged in haggling or making petty bargains. Synonyms include peddler and hawker.

The word may have been in Middle English usage [LANGLAND, William PP1 Bv 227 "She hath holden hokkerye al hire lyf tyme"] and may also have been spelled hukkerye, hukrie, hockerye, huckerstrye or hoxterye at one time or another.

Possible origins include Low German [reference the Middle Dutch hokester] which may be the origin of modern Höker.

The story 'The Goblin and the Huckster' by Hans Christian Andersen relates that human nature is attracted to a state of happiness as represented by poetry and to sensual pleasure as represented by jam and butter at Christmas. The huckster, through his haggling and bargaining, is seen as industrious because he possesses the jam and butter (sensual pleasure) and the student is seen as poor but happy because he appreciates the beauty of poetry above all else. Meanwhile, the huckster's talkative wife and the cask in which are stored old newspapers both have plenty of authoritative knowledge to share but are paid little attention compared to the primal desires of humankind, which constantly compete for (the goblin's) attention.

In the roleplaying game Deadlands, Huckster is a character class roughly equivalent to the common Mage or Wizard. Due to the nature of their world, Hucksters pretend to be cardsharps, professional gamblers or any other type of person for whom constantly carrying around a deck of playing cards is not abnormal. When a Huckster casts a spell, a hand of playing cards manifests itself in his hand and vanishes after the spell is finished.