Why do we say "Who's Minding The Store?"?

Meaning:

Who is in charge?

Background:

As a literal expression it is safe to assume that the question, "who's minding the store?" asked of a retail establishment goes back a long way given that the use of the verb "to mind" in the context of "attend to" dates back to at least the sixteenth century. But it is less clear when the expression took on a figurative meaning of asking who is in charge of something other than an actual store.

The saying was popularized by the 1963 comedy movie Who's Minding the Store? starring Jerry Lewis but was certainly in use before than. For example it can be found in Joseph Heller's 1961 classic Catch-22:

He was wounded in the thigh, and when he recovered consciousness he found McWatt on both knees taking care of him. He was relieved, even though he still saw Aarfy's bloated cherub's face hanging down over McWatt's shoulder with placid interest. Yossarian smiled feebly at McWatt, feeling ill, and asked, "Who's minding the store?" McWatt gave no sign that he heard. With growing horror, Yossarian gathered in breath and repeated the words as loudly as he could.

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