What is the origin or earliest known use of the idiomatic phrase "everything but the kitchen sink"?
I have searched the internet, but I cannot find an origin or etymology.
The earliest known use I found is 1918 according to knowyourphrase.com.
http://www.knowyourphrase.com/phrase-meanings/Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink.html
Is there a known origin or known use earlier than 1918?
Best Answer
OED
The Online Etymology Dictionary has a citation a little earlier than the OED:
Antedatings
I found some earlier quotations, including the variant everything but the kitchen stove, that show the phrase predates World War II.
Everything but the kitchen stove can be found back to 1913 and appears more common in the 1910s than kitchen sink from 1914. In fact, I found just three sinks in Chronicling America compared to some 17 stoves.
Chronicling America only goes up to 1922. Trove and Papers Past show both variants were used in Australia and New Zealand before WWII, and in the Manchester Guardian in the 1930s.
Here's three of each.
Everything but the kitchen stove
The evening world., November 17, 1913, Final Edition, Image 3:
The Washington times., June 19, 1914, HOME EDITION, Image 3:
The sun, October 18, 1916, Page 13, Image 13, boxing headline:
Everything but the kitchen sink
The Washington Times (Washington D.C.), February 20, 1914:
A advert for Macy's in the New-York Tribune, February 19, 1919:
New-York tribune., August 27, 1922, Page 2, Image 62, "Better Late Than Never" by W.E. Hill:
This suggests the phrase was already considered old hat by then, and it was at least 10 years old and had even been used in a Macy's ad.
Edit
Here's some even earlier stoves (and a range), from 1906 to 1914. All the early stoves (up to 1911) comment on a woman's attire. As far as I can tell all authors and publishers are American.
"The Other Doors" by Mary Heaton Vorse published in Scribner's Magazine - Vol. XXXIX, May 1906, No. 5 - Page 603:
"In the Ballingers' Box" by Harold Susman published in The Smart Set - Vol. XXX - No. 4 - April, 1910 - Page 66:
(Another possible 1910 or 1911 but GB is snippet only and I can't find this volume at Hathitrust or Internet Archive:
)
Prince Or Chauffeur?: A Story of Newport by Lawrence Perry - A.C. McClurg & Company, 1911 - Newport (R.I.) - Page 335:
This is not a comment on a women being dressed up to the nines, but rather taking almost everything on a journey. Also "kitchen range" rather than "stove".
"An Adventure in Contentment" by George Palmer Putnam - Outdoor World & Recreation - Vol. XLIX - September, 1913 - No. 3
This is also not to do with a woman's clothes, but another "almost everything".
A chapter letter for "Louisiana Alpha-Newcomb College" by Mildred Post in The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi - Volume 30 - March 1914 - Issue 3 - Page 468: