"Lock, stock, and barrel" is a merism used predominantly in the United Kingdom and North America, meaning "all", "total" or "everything".  It derives from the effective portions of a gun: the lock, the stock, and the barrel.  The term was first recorded in the letters of Sir Walter Scott in 1817, in the line "Like the High-landman's gun, she wants stock, lock, and barrel, to put her into repair.”  It is, however, thought that this term evolved into a popular saying some years before in England.  Politician Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States under Donald Trump, has heavily favored the phrase since at least 2010 when urging for the repeal of Obamacare, and used the phrase extensively during and after the 2016 presidential campaign.  The phrase is also referenced in the title of the British crime film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), as well as in the TV film Lock, Stock and Barrel (1971).  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock,_stock,_and_barrel    

In 1957, a recipe for "German's Chocolate Cake" appeared as the "Recipe of the Day" in The Dallas Morning News.  It was created by Mrs. George Clay, a homemaker from Dallas, Texas, and used the "German's Sweet Chocolate" baking chocolate introduced in 1853 by American baker Samuel German for the Baker's Chocolate Company.  A similar recipe by food conservationist Jackie Huffines had previously been featured on television. General Foods, which owned the Baker's brand at the time, took notice and distributed the cake recipe to other newspapers in the country.  Sales of Baker's Chocolate are said to have increased by as much as 73% and the cake would become a national staple.  The possessive form German's was dropped in subsequent publications, forming the "German Chocolate Cake" identity and giving the false impression of a German origin.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_chocolate_cake    

Agnes Bulmer (1775–1836) was an English poet.  Her work Messiah's Kingdom is thought to be the longest epic poem ever written by a woman, and took over nine years to complete, with over 14,000 lines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Bulmer   

Tom Taylor (1817–1880) was an English dramatist, public servant and writer.  After a brief academic career in English literature and language at University College London in the 1840s, Taylor practised law and became a civil servant.  At the same time he became a journalist, most prominently as a contributor to and eventually the editor of the magazine Punch.  He also began a theatre career and is now best known as a playwright.  With up to one hundred plays staged during his career, both original work and adaptations of French plays, Taylor's output covers a range of genres from farce to melodrama.  Most fell into neglect after Taylor's death, but Our American Cousin (1858), which achieved great success in the 19th century, remains famous as the piece that was being performed in the presence of Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated in 1865.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Taylor 

The tiny N.Y. town where bookstores rule   Nestled in the Northern Catskills, the tiny village of Hobart, New York, is home to around 400 residents, and millions of fascinating characters, all stacked high on shelves.  Hobart is a book village.  Within one brief block of Main Street, there are seven different bookstores.  There's a shop that specializes in mysteries (Quarry Books).  Behind the children's library (The Book Nook), another shop stocks niche travel books (More Good Books).  The village was inspired by Hay-on-Wye, a thriving Welsh book town that's become a world-renowned destination for bibliophiles.  Don Dales thinks there's still room to grow:  "People like a book.  They like to see 'em on the shelves.  They like to see the spine of the book and say, 'Oh, I remember that book, that was a wonderful book!'  And besides, a home without books, that's a boring home . . .  unless it has a cat!"  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/book-village-hobart-new-york/    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2855  September 18, 2024