My God, How the Money Rolls In

[ B ]

"Mother makes brandy from cherries;
Pop distills whisky and gin;
Sister sells wine from the grapes on our vine,
Good grief, how the money rolls in!

	This single stanza is credited to the otherwise unidentified Periscope Magazine (no date) in Eliot Asinof, 1919 (New York: Donald I. Fine, 1990) p. 266, but referring to Prohibition.  If the stanza was published contemporaneous with the adoption of Prohibition in 1919, it would be the oldest noted.

[ C ]

My father makes book on the corner.
My mother makes second-rate gin.
My sister makes love for a quarter.
My God, how the money rolls in.

Chorus:
Rolls in, rolls in, 
My God, how the money rolls in, rolls in.
Rolls in, rolls in, 
My God, how the money rolls in.

My brother's a poor missionary.
He saves fallen women from sin.
He'll save you a blonde for a dollar.
My God, how the money rolls in.

My uncle's an artist and painter.
He turns out a beautiful fin.
He sells them ten cents on the dollar.
My God, how the money rolls in.

My aunt is a boarding house keeper.
She takes little working girls in.
She puts a red light in the window.
My God, how the money rolls in.

My grandmother makes prophylactics.
She pierces each one with a pin.
Grandpa does illegal abortions.
My God, how the money rolls in.

My one skin lies over my two skin.
My two skin lies over my three.
My three skin lies over my four skin.
Oh, roll back my foreskin for me.

Last chorus:
Roll back, roll back,
Roll back my foreskin for me, for me.
Roll back, roll back,
Roll back my foreskin for me. 

Furnished without tune by Pasadena, California, attorney Roger Gray, a parttime performer at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.  Gray has deliberately gathered songs from various sources, both oral and printed, to present as a "strolling minstrel" at the pageant.