Edward Sherman, Hollis Eames' great-grandfather, was a brilliant distinguished gentleman honored by the American and French governments, a graduate of MIT, and the Civil Engineer who designed both the Charles River Basin in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the locks of the Panama Canal.

He was also a man who adored his grandchildren.
In the morning before he shaved and created little soapsud floating ducks in the sink as he lathered his face with a bristle brush and dotted theirs with little ducklings, they would merrily jump on his bed and he would spontaneously create that day's adventures of a little squirrel. The naughty creature scampered through traffic, landed on coal trucks and was dumped in stranger's cellars, ventured forth and got lost in the Washington Zoo, and wound up in all the trouble little grandchildren might.

The little squirrel was also a master at collecting odds and ends - everything from the requisite acorns for acornmeal porridge to bright shiny items from the apartment dwellers' desks. He could store the most amazing quantity of treasures in his tiny puffed-out cheeks.

As you can with Hollis Eames handbags - brilliant, well-engineered and fun.