"Open a side door", 1773, antedates 1930

[Joel S. Berson]

"Open a side door" -- less heinous than a back door?
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In a complaint about the Tea Act and the exclusive trading rights of
the East India Company, "Joshua the son of Nun" wrote in the
Massachusetts Spy (Isaiah Thomas's Whig paper) on Oct. 14, 1773:

"If this is not opening a side door for the direct entrance of
despotism such a thing is not possible in nature,"

"sidedoor" OED2 sense 1.b. (fig.)'s earliest quotation is "1930 Times
21 Mar. 15/5 We maintain that these 'side door' credits are
endangering our chances of securing recognition of our bonds."
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 From Debates in Congress, allegedly 1824:  "It is idle to say that
you close your trade, while you leave open a side door, through which
it will be carried on."  [GB full view.]
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 From Political representation in England and the origins of the
American Republic,  Jack Richon Pole - 1966, p. 172:  "The Men of
Property open a Side Door to the Majority" (chapter title).  {GB, snippet.]
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As for the literal "opened a side door", the intriguing quotation is
"The stout citizen with the shark's head opened a side door
...".  Makes me want to follow on in.  :-)
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Joel

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