Michigan rollnoun · 1913
ProbableThe con is over a century old and nobody wrote down what Michigan had to do with it.
Green's Dictionary of Slang traces the phrase to 1913, in a New York newspaper line about an Abe Lincoln on the outside of a Michigan bankroll. The same trick appears elsewhere as a California bankroll or a Cincinnati roll, which suggests the state name was swappable rather than explanatory. Merriam-Webster and Collins both carry the variant Michigan bankroll.
Named from the placeRead →