Antiques: Ghurka the luggage (not the soldiers)
First off, pardon the brief stroll down memory lane, but this week's topic and I have a history. After finishing graduate school back in the last century, I was for a while an overpaid financial type with one of the big Wall Street banks. This was during the early 1980s when no excess was too great and almost anything was considered reasonable.
Anyway, I needed a briefcase, and the firm offered to buy me one. So rather than being temperate, I went out and bought a beautiful $800 Ghurka briefcase that made me the best accessorized guy in the office — at least for a while. The company didn't even blink when I submitted my reimbursement, and I treasured that thing for more than 40 years until my son swiped it and took it back to New York.
There's no moral to this story, except maybe that you should lock up your fineries when your kids are in town, but I've had a soft spot for Ghurka ever since. So, let's talk about it.
It hardly needs writing that we're talking about Ghurka the luggage maker, not those legendary Indian soldiers known by the same. The name itself originated in Nepal and was anglicized into its present form by British soldiers in the 19th century. Ghurkas were known to carry a khurkuri, an unusually long knife with a forward curve, and such was their bravery that one Indian general was said to have commented that anyone unafraid of dying must be either lying or a Ghurka. To this day, there are still Ghurka military units in England and various other Commonwealth countries. You don't want to mess with them.
Enough of that. Ghurka the luggage has been around since 1975 and will enjoy its 50th anniversary next year. The company was founded by Marley Hodgson, a colorful luxury belt maker who spotted some vintage military gear made for Ghurka soldiers in a British auction. He was outbid in the sale but managed to track down the winner and somehow extract the tanning process used in the boots. After considerable experimentation, he arrived at a point where he could produce incredibly thick yet supple leather with a creamy caramel color, and thus was the Ghurka line born.
Marley's first bag was a leather knapsack made for his son. It was quite the attention-getter and so prompted him to originate the Ghurka line. The Examiner model was among his first styles, a durable and most handsome overnight bag in full leather with two external pockets. They weren't cheap then and aren't so now, but their quality was and remains unmistakable.
Over time, the line expanded into belts, portfolios, wallets and other categories, and a canvas twill was introduced to complement the leather while reducing cost. These days, Ghurka owners make up something of an unspoken cabal, often nodding at each other at airports while passing to and fro.
Unlike most other bags, the Ghurka look is highly distinctive and easy to pick out of a crowd.
Marley has since moved on to other ventures, and the firm was sold to private investors in 2019. Traditionally a made-in-America producer, about 80% of today's Ghurka models are still crafted with pride in the USA with the rest coming from premium makers in Italy and Spain.
Vintage Ghurka pieces are hard to find, although online venues like eBay and galleries like ours will occasionally have a selection. Regrettably, all the sumptuous Ghurka boutiques are gone and the firm now relies mostly on a small number of exclusive retailers along with the internet to sell new product. Rather like me, most Ghurka loyalists are loathe to part with whatever they have, even if it's our own kin that snatches it away.
Mike Rivkin and his wife, Linda, are long-time residents of Rancho Mirage. For many years, he was an award-winning catalogue publisher and has authored seven books, along with countless articles. Now, he's the owner of Antique Galleries of Palm Springs. His antiques column appears Sundays in The Desert Sun. Want to send Mike a question about antiques? Drop him a line at info@silverfishpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Antiques: Ghurka the luggage (not the soldiers)
