Dorothy Walworth? Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? Thomas Kirby? Dave Ball? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: The phrase “bury the hatchet” means to end a dispute and make peace. A humorous twist on this figurative phrase highlights enduring hostility:
They buried the hatchet, but in a shallow grave.
This statement suggests that the hatchet might be retrieved and the conflict might resume. This quip has been attributed to U.S. writer Dorothy Walworth. Would you please explore the provenance of this modified expression?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in November 1901 within “The Surrey Mirror” of Reigate, England which published a letter from Thomas Kirby. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
What kind of olive branch was extended? of which we have heard so much. How shallow the grave of the buried hatchet! It seems rather that the latter has been exhumed, ground, and presented with a new handle.
Two weeks later “The South Bend Daily Tribune” of Indiana printed the following short item:2
It is said that Croker and Hill have buried the hatchet. It is in a shallow grave, however, and will be resurrected at the least provocation. These two chiefs are not the ones to long keep a truce.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1904 “The Sunday Journal” of Indianapolis, Indiana reprinted an article from a New York newspaper which attributed the quip to an anonymous woman:3
“She buried the hatchet, but it is in a very shallow grave, and there’s no knowing when she may disinter it and go on the warpath again.”
In 1907 the “Nashville Banner” of Tennessee published the following:4
When the Ohio Republicans buried the hatchet they left the handle sticking out and the hatchet has been wrenched from its too shallow grave.
In 1908 “St. Louis Globe-Democrat” of Missouri printed an instance while acknowledging another newspaper:5
Dave Ball says he has buried his hatchet, but knows right where he interred it. Presumably it was in a very shallow grave. The Democratic back lot in Missouri is full of new-made graves of the same sort. They are all marked and the disinterment is likely to begin at any moment now. — Carthage Press.
In 1915 the “Wichita Daily Stockman” of Kansas printed a comical variant:6
Hicks — “I understand that you and Sharp had buried the hatchet, but I heard him criticize you pretty severely last night.” Nicks — “Oh, we’ve buried the hatchet all right, but he still uses the hammer.”
In 1929 a variant joke appeared in the widely distributed comic strip Abe Martin by U.S. humorist Kin Hubbard. The joke was written with nonstandard spelling:7
Nobuddy ever fergits where he buried a hatchet.
In 1941 “Reader’s Digest” attributed a version of the joke to Dorothy Walworth:8
They buried the hatchet, but in a shallow, well-marked grave.
(Dorothy Walworth)
In 1945 “The Press Democrat” of Santa Rosa, California printed the following:9
“Maybe Los Angeles has buried the hatchet in a shallow grave, but 1100 of California’s citizens are out whooping it up against establishment of United Nations headquarters in San Francisco.
In conclusion, Thomas Kirby used this quip in 1901, but QI conjectures that it was already in circulation. Dorothy Walworth helped to popularize this quip. She received credit in 1941.
Image Notes: Picture of an axe buried in a stump from Kevin Schmid at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to the anonymous person whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1901 November 15, The Surrey Mirror, Section: Letters to the Editor, Letter from: Thomas Kirby, Redhill, Quote Page 8, Column 3, Reigate, Surrey, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1901 November 29, The South Bend Daily Tribune, (Short untitled item), Quote Page 4, Column 2, South Bend, Indiana. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1904 March 6, The Sunday Journal, Matters of Feminine Interest, The Club Treasurership (Acknowledgement to New York Mail), Section 3, Quote Page 8, Column 3, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1907 May 16, Nashville Banner, (Filler item), Quote Page 8, Column 3, Nashville, Tennessee. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1908 June 8, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Missouri Pointers: Handles Sticking Out, Quote Page 5, Column 5, St. Louis, Missouri. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1915 May 8, Wichita Daily Stockman, Still Knocking, Quote Page 4, Column 2, Wichita, Kansas. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1929 August 9, The Indianapolis News, Abe Martin, Quote Page 26, Column 3, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1941 November, Reader’s Digest, Volume 39, Number 235, Picturesque Speech and Patter, Quote Page 92, Column 2, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- 1945 November 20, The Press Democrat, Cotati Hits Headlines as ‘World Capital’ Contender, Quote Page 5, Column 5, Santa Rosa, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎