High atop a New York penthouse, Tess entertaining at a society party hosted by bon vivant Everett Clay when his octogenarian father Benjamin, who still runs the family business, makes a surprise appearance to chastise his son and grandson about their wasteful ways. The following morning, Benjamin tells Everett the Bible story of the prodigal son who squanders his fortune. Benjamin reminds Everett that his great grandfather started this company carving handmade buttons and that he's being disinherited to learn the importance of self-reliance and hard work, handing him a framed deerskin jacket, with buttons carved by his great grandfather. Angry and penniless, Everett busts the frame, when Tess appears in her Cadillac, offering Everett a ride to Colorado, where some friends of his had invited him to stay. Before long, they arrive in Central City, the mining town that was in its heydey at the turn of the century. They stop at the historic Teller House saloon where Everett notices a p