Ham is not only known for his success in the courtroom and his association with Doc Savage. He has also achieved fame for his sartorial perfection. Ham loves clothes. He is considered by many to be one of the best dressed men in America. In fact, tailors have been known to follow him down the street, just to see clothes being worn as they should be. Ham is a tailor's dream.
His bachelor quarters on Park Avenue are imposing without being flashy. The building itself has one of the plainest fronts on the avenue. The establishment is so exclusive that a great many Park Avenue residents do not themselves know that it exists. Ham's apartment consists of a bedroom with ample closet space, a study lined with cases holding law books and a small kitchenette. Near the door sits a tall case. The top of the case has niches for two dozen canes. The bottom of the case has a niche which holds a tiny bejeweled pocket flask. The flask holds the peculiar chemical concoction which Ham uses on his sword-cane blades.
These canes are the innocent looking black canes that Ham habitually carries. They contain swords made from blades of the finest Damascus steel. It is Ham's practice to coat the ends of the blades with a thick version of the anesthetic so frequently used by Doc. With a quick twist, the cane comes apart. Ham has merely to prick his opponent with the blade and they go down almost immediately. Their unconsciencousness will last for hours. In this manner, Ham is able to fight with a minimum amount of damage to his clothing.
In Doc Savage's organization, Ham Brooks manages the legal and financial matters of Doc's vast empire, as well as all matters relating to real estate and properties. Doc trusts only his closest aides to control these matters and Ham is perfect for the task since he is not only a lawyer, but has also studied banking while in college.
Ham's dealings include the most sensitive and secret aspects of Doc's workings, such as the handling of gold shipments from Central America and the setting up and operating of the various front companies that Doc uses. Ham is very astute. When it comes to covert business deals he and Doc make Oliver North and Admiral Poindexter look like amateurs. Ham had already made a name for himself with the French army in the Great War as a master tactician and he loves to work covert deals. Perhaps this is why Monk refers to him so often as a shyster.
It isn't all cloak and dagger fun and excitement though. Most, if not all of Ham's time when not adventuring is spent working with a huge number of bankers, accountants, real estate agents, stockbrokers and heads of industry. In reading the adventures we can wrongly get the impression that Ham just sat around waiting for the next mystery to happen. In fact, Ham is managing Doc's behind the scenes day to day business operations. Ham is really to be admired. He is the one who keeps Doc's house in order, so to speak. In business matters he is to Doc something like what Noah Dietrich was to Howard Hughes. Doc simply tells Ham what he wants to do, and Ham mades sure all the details are worked out. He is a tireless worker who never complains although the pressure of such a work load is tremendous. Whether Monk likes it or not, Ham is in all respects the true backbone of the Doc Savage organization.
