A shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top.  It is usually adorned with some kind of ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise, and often has a feather, plume (see hackle), or pompom attached at the top.  The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákó for the peak, which Hungarian border soldiers (Grenz-Infanterie) added around 1790 to their previously visorless stovepipe-style hats.  Originally these hats were part of the clothing commonly worn by shepherds, before being added to the uniform of the Hungarian hussar in the early 18th century.  Other spellings include chako, czako, sjako, schako, schakot and tschako.  See pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shako 

In the 1830s, a new form of entertainment emerged:  the penny dreadful.  Also called penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood, it got its name from its cheap and sensational nature, costing eager consumers—you guessed it—just a single cent.  These easily digestible stories for the masses spawned horror tropes, urban legends, and anti-heroes that we still know and love today.  But to understand the far-reaching influence of penny dreadfuls, first we have to take a look at their dark origins.  As recently as the 18th and 19th centuries, public executions were still a spectacle in Britain.  Among the crowds that gathered to witness the hanging of criminals, pamphlets were sold by enterprising printers.  These broadsides typically featured some reproduction of the crime or the criminal in question, along with a grim warning not to follow in their footsteps.  Not too long after, penny dreadfuls began popping up on newspaper stands—likely inspired by the success of crime and execution broadsides.  Each penny dreadful fell between eight and 16 pages, with an attention-grabbing illustration taking up the first half page.  The serialized stories were published in weekly installments, not unlike the tales penned by the contemporaneous Charles Dickens—but of a much more sordid nature.  Rather than revolving around the lives of the noble poor or haughty aristocrats, penny dreadfuls featured the exploits of criminals, detectives, monsters, and supernatural villains.  Gruesome and violent, they may have been considered lowbrow, but they were a huge hit.  Penny dreadfuls were eventually eclipsed by competing literature, such as the serials published by Alfred Harmsworth.  Priced even cheaper at half a cent, his publications were creatively called the “halfpenny dreadfuller.”  See graphics at https://the-line-up.com/what-is-a-penny-dreadful 

'Chit-chat' is just a reduplication of chat, which is itself a diminutive form of chatter, which has been with us as both a noun and a verb since the 13th century.  The two-way, conversational nature of chit-chat is alluded to in the 'to and fro' sound of the term, as in tick-tock and see-saw.  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/chit-chat.html 

The smallest library in Maine is on a mission to bring banned books to its community by Abigail Curtis  Located 22 miles out to sea, Maine’s likely smallest library—and one of its newest—is on a mission to fill its shelves with books that other communities are taking off their shelves.  With a population of only about 100 people, tolerance of others and appreciation for differences matter on the island.  That is one reason why the library volunteers are choosing to take this stance.  The books include classics such as “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.  Islanders also requested “Maus,” by Art Spiegelman, but Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Rockland was out of copies so she will have to special order it.  There are newer books, too.  A picture book first published in 2005, “And Tango Makes Three,” tells the true story of two male penguins at Central Park Zoo in New York City who raised a chick together.  It is one of the most banned books in the country, according to the American Library Association.  In 2020, Kristy Rogers McKibben, who grew up on Matinicus and had been one of the teen librarians 40 years ago, applied to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation for a grant to add a second shed to make a children’s library.  The foundation approved the grant, and after the insulated shed was delivered on the ferry, library volunteers again got to work to make it functional.  https://bangordailynews.com/2022/03/16/news/midcoast/the-smallest-library-in-maine-is-on-a-mission-to-bring-banned-books-to-its-community-joam40zk0w/ 

Spring has sprung, the grass iz riz,
I wonder where da boidies iz?
Da boid iz on da wing!  Ain’t that absoid?
I always hoid da wing . . . wuz on da boid!  https://www.classicalwcrb.org/blog/2021-03-30/spring-has-sprung 

While frequently attributed to Ogden Nash or ee Cummings the author of this amusing nonsense--known as "Spring In The Bronx"--is Anonymous.

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris.  I wonders where the birdies is.  They say the birds is on the wing.  Ain't that absurd?  I always thought the wing was on the bird.  (Pardon the doggerel) 

In Arnold Silcock's Verse and Worse, it is attributed to ANON [New York], and goes thus:  The Budding Bronx   Der spring is sprung  Der grass is riz  I wonder where dem boidies is?  Der little boids is on der wing,  Ain't dat absoid?  Der little wings is on de boid!  https://www.answers.com/Q/Who_wrote_'Spring_has_sprung_The_grass_has_ris_I_wonder_where_the_birdies_is'  The poem has been cited in print since at least 1936. 

The American inventor, scientist, and soldier George Owen Squier, who developed the original technical basis for the Muzak service and also coined its name, was born on March 21, 1865.  Wiktionary 

Composer and organist J.S. Bach was born on March 21, 1685.  Bach traced his ancestry back to his great-great-grandfather Veit Bach, a Lutheran baker (or miller) who late in the 16th century was driven from Hungary to Wechmar in Thuringia, a historic region of Germany, by religious persecution and died in 1619.  There were Bachs in the area before then, and it may be that, when Veit moved to Wechmar, he was returning to his birthplace.  He used to take his cittern to the mill and play it while the mill was grinding.  Johann Sebastian remarked, “A pretty noise they must have made together!   However, he learnt to keep time, and this apparently was the beginning of music in our family.”  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2510  March 21, 2022