Antedating of "Litterbug"

[Shapiro, Fred]

The OED's first use of "litterbug" is dated 1947.  Paul Dickson's recent entertaining book Authorisms asserts that this was a "Word coined by Alice Rush McKeon (1884-1979), a fierce and early advocate of highway beautification.  Her 1931 book _The Litterbug Family_ was instrumental in passing the first billboard control law in her home state of Maryland."  I have not been able to confirm McKeon's usage of the word.  WorldCat has nothing like this or other claimed publications by McKeon about "litterbugs."



Here is the earliest citation I have found from searching newspaper databases:



1946 _Ogden_ (Utah) _Standard-Examiner_ 21 Apr. 2 (Newspapers.com)  The season of outdoor activities is here.  And that serves to center attention on the fact that litterbugs will become a part of community life just as they always have before. ... Litterbugs are deliberately thoughless [sic] and untidy.  They can be traced through city parks and along streets and roads by a trail of fruit skins, ice cream cartons, candy wrappers, milk and beverage bottles (often broken) and other debris, as easily as a hunting dog follows the trail of a game animal or a varmint.



Fred Shapiro











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