Punch here refers to the popular music hall song, “Champagne Charlie” (1867), whose lyrics were by George Leybourne and music by Alfred Lee. According to Derek Scott,
“Champagne Charlie” (1867) is the most famous of the songs sung by George Leybourne (1842-84), who was a major figure in the star system that developed around the music halls in 1860s. The toff or "swell" character of this period appealed to socially aspiring lower-middle-class males. Leybourne was the most acclaimed of the swells, but the character he portrayed was double-coded: he might inscribe admiration for wealth and status, but he subverts bourgeois values in celebrating excess and idleness ("A noise all night, in bed all day and swimming in Champagne," boasts Charlie). This may be the first example of popular music used for advertising: Charlie recommends "Moët's vintage only."
Related Material
Bibliography
“Champagne Charley.” Punch, or the London Charivari (30 March 1867): 134. The Hathi Trust online version of a copy of in the University of Michigan Library. Web. 29 May 2020.
Last modified 17 June 2019