On July 6, 1990,Edgar Howard (age 85) died. He was a native of Ocracoke and a retired vaudeville entertainer, having worked with the Milton Berle Show for 10 years, the Gene Autry Show, and other well known celebrities of the time. He also played his banjo with the Texaco Show. Edgar is buried on Howard Street. His tombstone has a banjo carved in it, and reads, "You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet!"
In April, 1979 Edgar's son, Ronnie, opened Howard's Pub. It had been 50 years since alcohol had last been sold on Ocracoke Island. The grand opening was the talk of the village. Edgar's comment was "We'll have hard-core hippies, hard-core Yankees, and hard-core Southerners. We're going to mix them all and I hope they all get along."
For the most part they have!
Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of a 1911 wedding on Portsmouth Island. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news022111.htm.
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Interesting timing, Philip, for posting this blog!
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to think that Philip has an agenda. I wonder if he is willing to keep pushing it with the risk of harming his business interests. Will there be a rainbow flag flying at the Village Craftsmen soon?
ReplyDeleteWho owns Howard's Pub today? Just wondering....
ReplyDeleteLast I heard Ann Warner owns Howards Pub, but it is for sale.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it can be reopened as a gay bar. Besides, according to some posters here, most everyone on Ocracoke is gay, or supports gay marriage. Carvings of nude men will be for sale at the Village Craftsmen before we know it.
ReplyDeleteDo any of Edgar's children still live on the island? I was wondering if any inherited his musical talent.
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope the flag will fly high and soon.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if any are kin to Edgar, but there is a tremendous amount of musical talent on Ocracoke.
ReplyDeleteOur first visit to Ocracoke Island was September 1983 (and we've been coming back ever since, now we're visiting twice a year for two weeks). Howard's Pub was just a small place at that time. It has been fun to watch the growth - and additions - over the years. Howard's is definitely our first stop on the Island (even before we check-in). Howard's...see you in April!
ReplyDeletenothing beats howards for a cold beer on a hot day :)
ReplyDeleteand its for sale? i didnt realize that... who is the current owner?
Hey, my agenda is simply to share news and information about Ocracoke! (See my comment on yesterday's post.)
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Howard's Pub is for sale. Maybe it is...maybe it isn't.
Edgar has two sons, Ronnie & Richard. I believe Ronnie has Edgar's banjo, but he doesn't play, as far as I know. Ronnie is a character in his own right. He has a degree in history from Nortwestern University. Whenever politics came up in conversation he made it clear that he wasn't a Republican or a Democrat. He identified as a Royalist! He was also fond of saying that he thought manual labor was the president of Mexico. Ronnie is living in Cocoa Beach, Florida, but comes back to the island now and then.