“And if you believe that, I have a bridge I’ll sell you!”

We’ve all heard this shop-worn expression. Its origin is the shenanigans of George C. Parker, who was famous (or, rather, infamous) for selling the Brooklyn Bridge multiple times to new, unsuspecting immigrants at the turn of the century. His hook was that the “purchaser” of the Brooklyn Bridge would be able to charge tolls for incoming and outgoing traffic (at that time, bridge traffic consisted of pedestrian, carriage and railroad traffic) on the bridge. Indeed, the New York City police were kept quite busy removing successive toll booths erected by Mr. Parker’s successive “purchasers” (cf. the legal doctrine of purpresture).1 Folklore has it that his method of conveyance was – you guessed it -- a quitclaim deed! Mr. Parker’s fraudulent conduct, and not his choice of conveyancing instrument, is what landed him in prison the final eight years of his life.