The Legacy of the Bag: A Nod to Price Waterhouse, Then and Now

In the summer of 2024, at a makeshift PwC alumni golf outing, I was gifted something that instantly became one of my most prized professional possessions—a vintage Price Waterhouse audit bag, passed to me by Rico Wolney. He handed it over like a sacred relic, and without saying much, I knew exactly what it meant.

Later that year, at our annual Christmas luncheon, I brought the bag along with a silver Sharpie—and that’s when the story really took off. What began as a symbolic gesture has since taken on a life of its own.

This bag isn’t just a piece of worn leather with brass trim—it’s a living artifact from the days when Price Waterhouse stood tall among the original Big Eight accounting firms. For those keeping score, the full lineup was:

• Price Waterhouse
  
• Peat Marwick
  
• Touche Ross
  
• Deloitte
  
• Arthur Andersen
  
• Ernst & Ernst
  
• Arthur Young
  
• Coopers & Lybrand (there’s your eighth!)
  

Fast forward through decades of mergers and evolution, and we now refer to the Big Four: PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG.

My personal connection to this world goes back to Gary Stott (PW ’72, Robert Half ’79), who recruited me to be his sidekick. But my journey really began in 1982 when Jerry Reynell hired me to sell payroll and tax services. Back then, everything revolved around referrals—and the best ones came from CPA firms, law firms, bankers, and insurance agents. We were trained to sell value-added services and, more importantly, to build lasting relationships.

This audit bag—now signed by numerous PwC alumni—is a physical symbol of that era. I brought the silver Sharpie again to the 2025 outing, and it didn’t take long before the bag became a tradition. Folks added their signatures, class years, and shared audit-room war stories over beers and laughter. We even joked it’s becoming the Stanley Cup of PwC alumni—and like the Cup, we may soon need to add another tier or commission a whole new tower to preserve the legacy.

They even made me an honorary member—kind of like getting one of those honorary PhDs from a university. And I’ll take it.

Here are both sides of the bag. Each signature represents more than just a name—it’s a career, a friendship, a referral, a golf outing, a deal, or maybe a late night poring over financial statements:

This post continues the theme from one of my earlier reflections on the power of groups, which was published in The Buffalo News. Whether it’s PwC or your neighborhood golf foursome, there’s something special about alumni communities that only grows stronger over time.

To those who’ve already signed the bag: thank you for your mentorship, your referrals, your stories—and your Sharpie ink.

And to those who haven’t signed it yet, there’s always this year’s lunch… or next year’s outing.