Howdy Pillar

Briefly about Howdy

Howdy Pillar is Welcome Home’s friendliest and happiest shopkeeper! This colorful caterpillar knows his store like the back of his hands, which is impressive considering how many hands he has. Charismatic, quick-witted, and remarkably jolly, Howdy always seems to have whatever his neighbors need with a price that just can’t be beat!

Personality

The friendliest and happiest seller in Welcome Home! Charismatic, quick-witted and surprisingly cheerful, loud, confident in his words, the owner of the store and dexterous thanks to his four hands. Howdy's voice is described as very fast and confident, like a salesman trying to sell you something. Howdy likes being in charge and being his own boss, not wanting to deal with small talk and thinking a verdict is much easier in order to get back to business.

Appearance

Howdy is a man, a big caterpillar puppet, one of the tallest neighbors, his height was 7 or 8 feet. He has four arms and legs, green fluffy fur and blue hair styled in a pompadour hairstyle. It has a large red nose and two red-yellow striped antennae like some caterpillars. He often wears a rainbow hat, a blue striped shirt with white cuffs and a round collar, a simple red tie, red cuffed trousers, brown work boots and an orange apron with a wavy edge decorated with a badge with his name.

Basic Details

Howdy Pillar is a tall caterpillar puppet with four arms and legs, acting as a local salesman in the area's only store, which they call Home. Thanks to his many arms and legs, Howdy can perform multiple tasks at the same time, which makes him a very agile and valuable employee. Howdy has a really big family and many relatives, they are both caterpillars and butterflies. Howdy usually spends his time standing behind the counter of the store, chatting amicably with all his neighbors. Howdy rarely appears on the streets outside of special occasions, and sometimes he comes to Poppy to deliver goods to her house. Howdy would often exchange goods for funny jokes, silly observations, one-dollar ideas, and unique gadgets. Noted formerly as being his favorite customer, Barnaby would often appear regularly at Howdy’s Place. He would supply Howdy with a daily laugh in exchange for a hot dog.

Background

Howdy was a small time caterpillar who wanted to start his own business, of which he accomplished in Home as a much larger caterpillar. His grocery store was named Howdy’s Place, of which Barnaby was their most loyal customer. Howdy was said to have originated from an apple core in a tree alongside his plentiful brothers and sisters, many of whom Howdy would offhandedly mention a plethora of by name.

Everything he likes

Howdy likes jokes, especially when he's upset. He can be easily made to laugh, especially if the jokes are good. His favorite color is turquoise. He doesn't have a special favorite food, and he usually only eats healthy greens. However, he really likes strawberry ice cream with soda. His favorite kind of cheesecake was Cherry Girardelli. Howdy loves dark roast coffee the most, because it tastes stronger, without sugar and with only a little cream.

"Howdy's Place" Store

In Howdy's store, you can find completely different products for all occasions, and you never know what he will offer next time. There didn't seem to be any real currency in the area. Howdy did not demand financial compensation for his goods, and his store usually paid with jokes, riddles, poems and the like. Barnaby's jokes were always worth the money, even if Howdy had heard them before. However, if the jokes concerned his store, he did not understand them and was even offended. Despite having four legs, he had never stumbled before, and was quite fast. Howdy advertises his products perfectly, and will not miss the right moment for this. Howdy was never bored in his store. He has a lot of things there, he's always humming, working, cleaning or tidying up. Howdy just cried when someone stole from him. Howdy can become a butterfly, but believes that wings would be too inconvenient for his constant work in the store.

Neighborhood

Howdy Pillar's neighborhood was one of 9 neighbors who lived next door during the 1970s TV series 'Welcome Home', as well as neighbors living in their neighborhood: Barnaby B. Beagle, Julie Joyful, Frank Frankley, Eddie Deere, Sally Starlet, Howdy Pillar, Poppy Partridge, Wally Darling himself, his Home and you.

Wally Darling

Wally Darling is always a calm and kind neighbor. Precisely because his knowledge is quite limited, he doesn't know much about what goes beyond their vibrant neighborhood. Wally is straightforward in everything, but at the same time polite, and always has a soft and inviting smile on his face. Besides, Wally is the friendliest neighbor in Welcome Home, maybe even the best artist. Wally and Howdy were good friends. Wally was a regular at Howdy's store and would attempt to make jokes to cash in for supplies, but had difficulty telling them correctly, causing Barnaby to help him out. Howdy would humor his half-told jokes anyway, and relish his company.

Wally's house Home

A notable feature of Wally is his house called Home. There, in the middle of the most colorful area in the district, somewhere in the depths there is a red house with a blue roof and yellow windows that serve as real eyes for the House. Home is considered the ninth neighbor, but apparently cannot speak like everyone else, and communicates only by onomatopoeia. (Its doors and windows, floorboards and walls make the same creaking, squeaking and other noises, including slamming the door.) Home is Wally's home and close friend. Although Home speaks only in onomatopoeia, Wally understands him almost effortlessly and talks to him. Home itself is quite a frightening creation, considering that it is literally a alive house in which the harmless puppet Wally lives surprisingly quietly.

Barnaby B. Beagle

A goofy layabout with a love for jokes, Barnaby B. Beagle is Welcome Home’s funniest neighbor. Always ready with a joke on hand or even a silly observation, this big blue beagle always knows how to have fun, much to the dismay of some of the grumpier residents. Barnaby was Howdy's favorite and most loyal customer. Barnaby would appear regularly at Howdy's place and supply Howdy with a laugh in exchange for a hot dog. Barnaby often took Wally to Howdy's store and had a good relationship. Howdy enjoyed Barnaby's jokes the most out of all of the Neighbors, each considering the other a formidable comedic force. They would often riff off of each other's jokes, and share a genuine laugh.

Julie Joyful

Undoubtedly the cheeriest neighbor a puppet could ask for, Julie Joyful is Welcome Home's happiest resident. Upbeat, silly, and always ready to play with her friends, there’s never a boring day in Welcome Home while she’s around. She is Frank's best friend. She loves unusual games, comes up with them on the go, using a variety of things. She is a harmless monster who communicates with flowers and understands them well.

Frank Frankly

Arguably the smartest neighbor in Welcome Home, Frank Frankly is the resident bookworm with an expertise on butterflies. Since Howdy is a caterpillar and Frank a bug expert, their relationship was a bit complicated. Howdy and Frank were considered friends, but they not necessarily liked hanging around one another. Howdy had a really low opinion on Frank, and saw him as a wet blanket and a know-it-all that didn't know how to have fun. Howdy didn't like how Frank knew more about caterpillars than him, an actual caterpillar, and Howdy opined that Frank was not good at telling jokes either. Frank felt a bit uncomfortable around Howdy, since Frank knew Howdy didn't like his jokes and didn't appreciate Frank's efforts to make him laugh. Since Howdy's main type of payment were jokes, Frank usually had to call Julie to go groceries with him so she could help him pay for the products. Even so, Frank didn't seem to think Howdy's products were very useful, thinking that Howdy usually tricked people onto buying other unnecessary things instead.

Sally Starlet

The most rambunctious resident in Welcome Home, Sally Starlet shines above the rest. She’s a fire-cracker who is willing to let her imagination run wild in the name of a new adventure, albeit at the occasional expense of her more cautious neighbors. Thankfully, she’s got a good head on her shoulders and perhaps, one could even say, a sunny disposition to match! Since Howdy's Place is the only shop in the town, the characters always went there to buy his products, included Sally. Howdy didn't miss the opportunity to advertise and talk big about his products, and recommended Sally items to buy from his shop when she was indecisive about what to grab from his stock. Sally was easy to convince and she bought plenty of products from Howdy when she went there, even if she didn't even know fully what she was actually buying from him or didn't really need it. Howdy was a great actor for Sally. But unfortunately, he always used Sally's plays to advertise his products in the middle of the action.

Eddie Dear

Reliable, kind and always determined, Eddie Dear is the best postman Welcome Home has ever had, albeit the only one. Despite the fact that Eddie is a bit of a clumsy and forgetful guy, he loves his job and always manages to deliver mail to everyone exactly on schedule. Eddie had to often go grab orders from Howdy's Place to deliver to the other neighbors. Howdy didn't seem to want having much conversation with Eddie when he went there, keeping it mostly professional and reminding Eddie to keep on track and do his job. Howdy found Eddie a bit too chatty for his taste, and didn't truly listen to him while Eddie tried to talk to him.

Poppy Partridge

Perhaps the most frantic, frazzled, and feathered neighbor in Welcome Home, Poppy Partridge is the resident chicken so-to-speak. From a sprained beak to sunburnt feathers, she always thinks about the worst outcome of a pleasant situation. Then again, it never hurts to have a neighbor with first aid kit on hand. Poppy was too afraid to leave her house, so instead of going to Howdy's Place, she had to call Howdy to come deliver everything personally to her home. Howdy didn't mind this in the slightest, and he used this time to visit Poppy and have small conversations with her, trying to offer his help if she needed it.

Relatives

Howdy has a large number of relatives: Howdy's parents, who grew up with love and care, a poet brother, a sister, her husband, restless but charming twin nephews, an aunt, her husband, cousin, grandmother, and most likely this is not even a complete list.