Only time I ever saw that was a photo of a retirement for a Master at Military Sealift Command. Guy had on full choker whites complete with sideboys…
I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my own brain stem.
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If had to look that up:
A sideboy is a member of an even-numbered group of seamen posted in two rows at the quarterdeck when a visiting dignitary boards or leaves the ship, historically to help (or even hoist) him aboard, in a ceremony known as tending the Side . Presently, Sideboys are used only for ceremonial purposes and not always aboard ships.
Sideboys were indeed used to help haul senior visitors up the side and over the gunwale. Visitors would get 2, 4, 6 or 8 sideboys, depending on their rank or seniority, based on the theory that the more senior you were the more corpulent you were, and the more assistance you would need.
Sideboys are now paraded as ceremonial for various type of visitors and arrivals/departures, with piping of the side by a Boatswain’s Mate. Piping the Side
Or at least it was still that way when I was piped off at my retirement in 1993.