Victorian Slang Primer No.3 - The Widow, The Boy

Punch, 1882: "Yes, I'll have a glass of the Boy with you "to celebrate that last victory" ... explanation below:

Champagne was then The Widow - a reference to Veuve Clicquot - or The Bubbly - a nickname easily understood - or The Boy. The Boy is a title that always puzzled me until, the other day, I was informed that, in a well-known sporting club, the wine was carried about on a tray by a youth; the fact, it is declared, gave the word.

William Pett Ridge, A Story Teller : Forty Years in London, 1923