Five Robbie sailors celebrate a first post-war liberty by posing for a portrait. Back row left is Dean Smith. Front row right is Larry Boutang. The other three sailors are Henry Cichon, Joe Lippert, and Eldon Bartlett. But which is which? You tell us, please!

Yes, that is money they are flashing - CRB (Central Reserve Bank) notes. At the time of the picture the exchange rate was 162,000 Yuan to the 'gold' (or 'US') Dollar. To further complicate matters, another currency - CB (Central Bank) notes, aka Chunking notes - were also in street use. They traded at about 600 Yuan to the US Dollar, but both exchange rates varied from day to day, or even oftener, so shoppers needed to carry a late edition of a Shanghai daily newspaper to know the current exchange rates before being able to start bargaining for prices.

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Those who persevered were rewarded with some very great bargains, as, for example, the hand-crafted silk gown modeled here by Betty Miller in 1998. It was picked up at a Bubbling Well Road shop in 1945 for a mere 3,000,000 yuan - give or take a few hundred thousand (CRB variety, of course) !!".