THE HOUSE OF THE JAGUAR: Can it survive?

This narrative discusses the past, present and precarious future of Na Bolom museum in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico – a house museum dedicated to the study, conservation and support of Chiapas' indigenous cultures, communities and their natural environment.     

In the shadow of the refinery: an American oil company town on the Caribbean island of Aruba

American industries created company towns across the United States, and in the late nineteenth century, their usage spread into Latin America and the Caribbean. Most company towns were designed for workers; the literature on company towns has tended to focus on these. However, some were specifically designed for expatriate managers and supervisors; these have received relatively little scholarly attention. This article focuses on Standard Oil’s Lago Colony on the island of Aruba. Established in 1929, the community offered a host of amenities including schools, a hospital, a store, a club, and a wide variety of sporting venues. This article examines the evolution of the town and explores the factors that contributed to its decline. It discusses life in the community, and specifically focuses on the lived experiences of children in making the company town their home.     

Discipline,Self-discipline and Legacy: Military and Regimental Savings Banks in India

Military and regimental savings schemes have not attracted a great deal of attention in accounts of colonial India yet they were part of daily life for many soldiers. The East India Company introduced savings banks as one of a number of measures to deal with the problem of indiscipline among the troops, but fairly quickly they were being used in other ways: as a marketing tool to recruit better quality troops and to appeal to entrepreneurs who wanted to use their time in the army as a means to self-improvement and prosperity. Several years later a royal warrant established regimental banks for the queen's troops wherever they served. Many thousands of soldiers used regimental savings banks and they provide important insights into the workings of the army in Victorian Britain and British India that have hitherto been neglected.