During the gloomy days of World War I, audiences, including servicemen on leave, wanted light and uplifting entertainment, and they flocked to theatres to see lighthearted musical comedies, a number of which broke box-office records.

Greenbank had worked on a dozen shows with each of Monckton and Ross from 1900 to the time of The Boy, and Talbot and Thompson were also frequent collaborators of theirs in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Findon's review of the musical praised the singing of Nellie Taylor and Peter Gawthhorne, and the comedy of W. H. Berry, as well as the production in general.

[3] Mrs. Millicent Meebles, a remarried widow, habitually understates the age of her son, Hughie Cavanaugh, to make herself appear several years younger.

Mr. Meebles arrives at court just in time to hear the case that results from the raid and must, as magistrate, sentence his wife and sister-in-law, Diana Fairlie (whose lover is Albany Pope), to incarceration.

[4] An Australian production opened at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne on 23 October 1920, starring Arthur Stigant, Lance Lister and Gladys Moncrieff, where it ran until 22 January 1921.