E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Baker (The).
Louis XVI. was called “the Baker,” the queen was called “the baker’s wife” (or La Boulangère), and the dauphin the “shop boy;” because a heavy trade in corn was carried on at Versailles, and consequently very little was brought to Paris.
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“The return of the baker, his wife, and the shop-boy to Paris [after the king was brought from Versailles] had not had the expected effect. Flour and bread were still scarce.”—A. Dumas: The Countess de Charny, chap. ix.
