One morning ten years ago when I was an adjunct professor, I went to a faculty meeting and plopped my inexpensive canvas handbag piped with fake leather on the table. My teacher's salary was woeful, and I purchased a style of bag I liked and could afford. Another professor came in and said, "Is that a Ghurka bag?" Ghurka? I'd never heard of it. Later, I found the Ghurka website and fell in love. Unfortunately, anything Ghurka was out of my price range. I started checking sales and eBay listings and recently found a vintage Ghurka tote of blue canvas with leather trim being sold by the daughter of a woman who had recently passed away. The mother had kept her Ghurka in its original bag in her closet and had used it only a few times. The daughter had no idea of the bag's value, and I was able to snag it for a good price. My first Ghurka! When my niece boasted about her collection of Louis Vuitton bags, I said, "Well, I'm a Ghurka girl." I plan to save up so that one of these days I'll have a new Ghurka bag that will last me the rest of my life. After I'm gone, I have no doubt that the bag will go to some other Ghurka girl yearning for her first acquisition.
Ghurka
Since 1975, Ghurka bags and leather goods have embodied the American spirit of strength, confidence, independence and boundless exploration.