The rebuilding years

Possessions circulate through estates, storage auctions, family gifts, pawnshops and private collections.

Dealers dispute authenticity. Family stories increase prices. Buyers discover that impressive collections sometimes contain mostly reproductions.

Old business names return under new ownership.

Some gaming establishments preserve restrictive debt and hospitality customs without offering much explanation for them.

Others dismiss those practices as expensive sentiment.

Everyone has reasons to prefer a particular account of the island’s past.