And as we have it, we live in the day of Google, so I found the answer.
And now I shall share it with you.
From 1920-1933, there was a national prohibition of alcohol in the United States. It stemmed from something called the "temperance movement", which attributed alcohol to all of society’s ills. A not-so-fun experiment to reduce crime and corruption.
The word seems to have first appeared in the American Midwest in the 1880s to denote the practice of concealing flasks of illicit alcohol in boots when going to trade with Native Indians. The term became part of the American vocabulary during its Prohibition (of alcohol) period, from 1920 until its repeal in 1933.
What's interesting is that Canada actually had a prohibition period itself, although for a significantly shorter period of time. I guess we quickly said something to the effect of "f*ck that sh*t."