David, Pascal,
I found a copy of Protective Coatings for Metals, 3rd Edition in Ohio
State University's Science and Engineering Library today (392.9 miles
roundtrip). The correct copyright date is 1967.  I got goofed up
originally because two different publishers held the copyrights...

So it looks like the two earliest publicly-available documents that
discuss tin whiskers may be:
*  Compton, K. G., Mendizza, A., and Arnold, S. M., "Filamentary Growths
   on Metal Surfaces - "Whiskers"," Corrosion, vol. 7 no. 10, pp.
   327-334, Oct. 1951.
*  Fisher, R. M., Darken, L. S., and Carroll, K. G., "Accelerated Growth
   of Tin Whiskers," Acta Metallurgica, vol. 2, pp. 369-373, May 1954.

Sorry about the confusion.  I'll correct my bibliography at
   http://www.dbicorporation.com/rohsbib.htm

                John Barnes KS4GL, PE, NCE, ESDC Eng, PSE, SM IEEE
                dBi Corporation
                http://www.dbicorporation.com/

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