Busboy (1911)

[Michael Adams]

Barry's citation is exceptionally useful in determining the etymology of "busboy."  In "The Server's Lexicon" (AS 1998), I speculated that the term originated in "*omnibus boy," a "man of all work," not unlike Rachel, the "piratical maid of all work" in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance."  The terms of this advertisement support that explanation very well. Though we have citations for "omnibus" (see OED2 and DSUE), I believe that we still lack a citation for "omnibus boy."