Idiom: crawl back into the woodwork (antedating OED to 1933 August; Dorothy Parker)

[Garson O'Toole]

The OED (2nd edition) contains the phrase(s) listed below under the
noun woodwork:

d. Phr. to come or crawl out of the woodwork and varr., to come out of
hiding; to emerge from obscurity. So to crawl (back) into the woodwork
and varr., to disappear

The first citation is dated 1964. The phrase is also listed in the
Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms without a dated cite. Below is an
example attributed to Dorothy Parker in 1933 in Cosmopolitan. The
words also appeared in Alexander Woollcott's famous profile of Parker
in 1934. The Reader's Digest gave the phrase wide circulation by
quoting Parker in 1934.

Cite: 1933 August, Hearst’s International-Cosmopolitan, [Hearst's
International combined with Cosmopolitan], “Our Mrs. Parker” by
Alexander Woollcott, Page 90, Column 1, International Magazine Co.,
New York. (Verified with photocopies; Great thanks to the helpful
librarians)

The other guests were all of the kind who wear soiled batik and bathe
infrequently, if ever. I could not help wondering how Nellie managed
to round them up, and where they might be found at other times. Mrs.
Parker looked at them pensively. "I think," she whispered, "that they
crawl back into the woodwork."

Here is the citation for Woollcott's collection of short pieces that
was published the next year.

Cite: 1934, While Rome Burns by Alexander Woollcott, Chapter “Some
Neighbors: IV: Our Mrs. Parker”, Pages 149-150, Viking Press, New
York. (Verified on paper)

Garson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org