This paper proposes "Maintain the core, Reinterpret the periphery" as a mechanism of institutional maintenance. The concrete mechanisms that allow for institutional maintenance are understudied. Using a historical case of the Onion Johnnies – Frenchmen who have been selling onions from Roscoff in Southern England since 1830 -, the authors generate new insights into the process of institutional maintenance. Onion Johnnies have managed to keep their profession alive by conserving its central characteristics, while changing aspects on the periphery. Firstly, this article identifies a new mechanism for maintaining institutions. This enhances the concept of institutional plasticity by using it to think about how an institution is maintained through transformation and double boundary work. Finally, this article shows the advantage of studying weak institutions.
