OED has Apr 3 1857. 1844 Vicksburg Whig 4 Nov 2/1 At length, he exclaimed, "Well, boys by G-d they have wrung in a cold deck on us." https://www.newspapers.com/image/224822539/?terms=%22cold%20deck%22&match=1 ------------------------------------------------------------ The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org