My answer to the question of where did the phrase "More than you can shake a stick at" is this and I just learned this from my father because I was asking about the origin of our family Irish Shillelagh/Club (pronounced shi-LAY-lee). The Shillelagh was an Irish club (stick) used for battle, and if there were more people than you could handle, then there were more than you could shake (or swing) at.