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Bend over backwards
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I believe it comes from the days of sailing ships. Sailors would sit on ropes slung under the masts and unfurl the sails from there. part of the operation did involve 'bending over backwards' to release the sail, and since it was a co-operative manoevre, you could 'bend over backwards' to help a friend in this dangerous but necessary activity.
I'm certainly not saying the sailing-ship answer is wrong, but the phrase appeared nowhere in print prior to the mid-20th century. That strikes me as being rather late, plus it first appeared as 'lean over backwards' in the USA. Given Britain's long naval traditions and centuries of sea-tales, you'd think it would have appeared much earlier. As for its meaning, the suggestion is that there is an element of inconvenience involved in the effort to help someone...ie you're 'going out of your way' to assist. Also, there is often the idea of going to the opposite extreme in order to avoid any suggestion of bias against the person being helped. Sometimes there is even a notion that you are going almost too far in an effort to overcome your natural 'inclination' perhaps not to help.
I hate to bother you with the tedious facts, Flora, but according to The Oxford English Dictionary - universally recognised as the 'bible' as far as the etymology/history of English words and phrases is concerned - the 'lean' version first appeared in 1925 and the 'bend' version in 1937, both in American publications. The earliest-recorded use of either in a British publication - also according to the OED - was in 'The Economist' magazine in November 1952, precisely half a century ago. An article therein said: "Broadmindedness may be carried beyond the optimum of impartiality to that point of unfairness to one's own case which Americans call 'leaning over backward'." It is perfectly plain from that quote what the phrase means exactly, where it came from exactly and how very recent an import it is. As Rabbie Burns said: "Facts are chiels that winna ding."
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