Finding a Needle in a Haystack
Without Drawing Blood
Finding the exact origin of the idiom "needle in a haystack" is a little like trying to find, you guessed it, a needle in a haystack Seemingly harder to find are exact citings as to where it’s written. Just some vague references. Here are a few examples:
There is an Arabic proverb that uses the phrase "a needle in a bundle of reeds", but I couldn’t track down the exact proverb and date because I can’t read Arabic.
Sir Thomas More in 1532 supposedly used "a needle in a meadow" instead of a haystack, but no one cites exactly where and I’m not likely to read through his collective works.
Miguel de Cervantes used "a needle in a bottle of hay" in Don Quixote (first published in 1605). "Bottle" referred to a bundle of hay at that time.
The exact wording is generally credited to Washington Irving and said to be found in The Complete Works of Washington Irving, published in 1834. Good luck sifting through that.
While these are the earliest written references, the concept likely existed in spoken language long before then. The fact that similar idioms exist in other languages and cultures suggests a long history. Especially when you consider that the oldest known sewing needle is from Siberia and is 50.000 years old. I can well imagine, for at least that long, people have been cussing the threading, losing, and accidental stabbing of themselves while they look for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Or Cave.
Will the real needle in a haystack please stand up?
But I can tell you where I actually found it in real life. Outside a quilting shop at the intersection of Q Rd. and US Highway 400. Severy, KS. Traveling between shows in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
Fun side note
In an episode of Mythbusters (linked below), Machines (contraptions) were built to find a needle in a haystack. The machines worked but the lesson learned was, if you lost your needle in a haystack, just get another one.
Links:
Needle in a Haystack Store
https://needlenahaystack.com/
The oldest known sewing needle
http://thescienceexplorer.com/humanity/world-s-oldest-sewing-needle-was-discovered-siberian-cave
Mythbusters episode