The Howdy Man

Back in the early days of Montgomery Wards, a monumental event occurred: they got a new t-shirt presser. That may not sound like much, but for Ed, it was the beginning of a branding revolution.

One day, Ed looked around and had a realization: he needed a logo. His sister had one for her restaurant—very official, very professional. And if she had one, well, he needed one too. That's just good sibling logic.

So, Ed embarked on a journey. Not a long one. More like… a stroll through the shop. That’s when he saw it: a random t-shirt pinned to the wall. Bold. Mysterious. Featuring a giant bucket hat and the word “Howdy,” slapped across the front of a t-shirt like it was personally greeting every customer.

It was love at first sight.

“This,” Ed declared, “is the one.”

Of course, it needed a little personal flair. So, he added keys and locks—because security, obviously. And thus began Gwen’s career as the family’s newly drafted, unofficial logo artist. And by "drafted," we mean “told to paint that thing on EVERYTHING.”

And paint she did.

Vans. Walls. Shirts. Signs. Possibly her own dreams.

Soon, people were calling in, saying, “Hey, we saw one of your vans on the highway!” Which was funny… because they only had one van. That’s the power of a logo with personality—or the power of mass hallucination. Either way, it worked.

Gwen looks back on those days fondly—except for the moment the paint began to peel. Turns out, it wasn’t exactly paint made for this type of project. More like “automotive paint applied with an ambitious brush.” So over time, the proud Howdy Man and letters slowly transformed into the Howdy Blob with random lettering, flaking off the van like a cowboy disappearing into the sunset.

Funny? Absolutely. Functional? Not so much.

And why yellow and black? Because someone once told Ed it was “the most eye-catching color combo.” Science? Marketing? A dream? No one really knows. But it stuck.

To this day, the old-timers still refer to that quirky, peeling character by his beloved nickname:

The Howdy Man

Wearing his big ol’ bucket hat, guarding keys and locks, and waving a flaky yellow howdy from the past.