Eddie Dear

"Reliable, kind, and ever determined, Eddie Dear is the best mailman Welcome Home has ever had, albeit the only one. Despite being a bit of a clumsy and forgetful fellow, Eddie loves his job and always manages to deliver everyone’s mail right on schedule."

- from Eddie's character card.

"Whether letter or parcel, whether rain, snow, or shine, we weather the weather and never decline! This is Eddie Dear of Eddie’s Post Office speaking! How can I help you today?"

- the standard Eddie’s Post Office greeting.

Eddie Dear is one of Home’s nine residents, and a member of Welcome Home’s central cast. Back when Welcome Home was airing, Eddie’s segments often revolved around him teaching arts and crafts projects to the other neighbors, with printed supplementary material focusing on the proper preparation of mail. He would also frequently appear in other neighbors’ skits, usually as a source of easy manual labor. Although it is difficult to determine his exact status, several items imply that he is still active.

For a full image gallery of this character, please click here.

Profile

Background

According to materials recovered by The Welcome Home Restoration Project, Eddie was originally from out of town, and moved into Home with hopes of establishing his own post office there. Notably, the name of his hometown was never established, to the point where it was a running gag on the show for Eddie to name a nonexistent location as his hometown, only to later admit that it was actually a place he had delivered to instead. Supplementary illustrations mention Eddie's mother, a fellow mail carrier, but she was never given a name or design. Recovered materials also indicate that Eddie’s puppet was a live-hand model that required two puppeteers to operate.

Appearance

Eddie is an orange humanoid puppet with purple eyelids, red hair that’s been combed back, and a triangular yellow nose. He is noticeably stockier than the other humanoid puppets, and his standard outfit is a mailman’s uniform consisting of a blue cap, a white shirt, a rainbow tie, blue pants, and brown loafers. He also wears a watch on his left wrist - one of only two clocks that exist within Home.

Personality

Eddie is an amiable and hardworking man who, as far as Home's residents are concerned, can always be counted on to get the job done. Though far from unemotional, he is typically slow to anger, and is often either reluctant to speak up when pushed past his limits (in sharp contrast to his usual talkative nature) or is brushed off when he does. His clumsiness, forgetfulness, and dedication to his work have earned him a reputation among some neighbors as a boring ditz. However, there are several recordings in which he proves to be more well read than this reputation would suggest. Given how much of his identity is tied to his occupation and ability to help others, Eddie can easily become restless if he goes long enough without being asked to do anything.

Plot

Initially, Eddie is never seen directly in the prologue outside of illustrations, although there are several implications that Wally is still in contact with him. We see (and hear) more of him after the July 27th 2023 update, in both publicly available audio and hidden pages such as the bug videos. Like his fellow neighbors, he expresses confusion at the caller's apparent silence in his Talking Telephone Toy audio, suggesting that the call was received in real time. In the bug videos, he is heard interacting primarily with Frank, Julie, Howdy, Barnaby, and of course, Wally. Although he attends the Macabre Menagerie of Monstrous Mischief-Making party heard in the October 13th update, his presence there is of relatively little note.

Eddie only truly becomes a person of interest in the March 9th 2024 update, when the WHRP website relaunches. He is conspicuously absent from most of the WHRP's new findings, only appearing in one recording and depicted on a single piece advertisement: a decoder on the back of a cereal box. This decoder, however, is key to the discovery of awayfrompryingeyes.net, and to a possible explanation behind Eddie's absence, as seen in a 22-minute television transmission received by W in December, consisting of various advertisements intercut with footage from Welcome Home itself. Said footage follows Eddie's point of view on the day of Homewarming, starting with him helping Poppy set up the last of her Homewarming decorations before returning to his office, where he waits for the other neighbors to ask him to deliver their gifts. After what is implied to be several hours of waiting, he grows anxious over a lack of work to do, then irritated to the point where he shoves several objects off of his desk on impulse.

When Eddie steps outside for a walk to calm his nerves, Sally is waiting for him atop the Homewarming tree. She explains that the rest of the neighbors have delivered each other's presents already in the hopes that he would take the opportunity to relax, and invites him to the Homewarming party taking place inside Home, to which he accepts. Once there, he sits down and closes his eyes to try and relax, but upon opening them again, finds himself alone in a dark void. Home, the only other entity present in the void, stares down at him, their eyes bloodshot and unblinking. The only sounds that can be heard in the dark are Eddie's breathing, and a heartbeat that grows faster and more erratic as the scene continues. Suddenly, Eddie finds himself back in the living room, still frozen in shock as Sally and Frank converse idly in front of him. When Frank notices Eddie's distress and demands to know what's wrong, Eddie can only mumble the words, "I think I need to go home."

Relationships

Frank Frankly

Eddie’s relationship with Frank is one laced with contradictions. Although Frank seems just as likely as any other neighbor to take Eddie’s considerate nature for granted, and the two appear to be on a surname-only basis with one another, there are also several details that imply that they are closer than one would expect. As seen in both public and secret recordings, Frank is unusually playful with Eddie whenever the two of them are alone, his banter becoming less snide and more lightheartedly teasing; he even allows himself to exhibit a genuine interest in Eddie's wellbeing. Meanwhile, Frank's presence is a great relief to Eddie whenever he believes himself to have lost control over a situation, ranging from smaller dilemmas such as a stray beetle in the post office, to things darker and more difficult to explain or solve, such as the events of the Homewarming party. Their aforementioned surname-only basis also does not appear to be a natural habit, but something consciously enforced, broken only by accident or in order to establish sincerity with one another.

Julie Joyful

Ever the patient fellow, Eddie tries his best to keep up with Julie’s antics, but is often left with more questions and/or concerns than anything else, as seen in 7-14-ej and other recovered materials. Although Julie doesn’t necessarily take Eddie’s strength for granted, she does have trouble recognizing when he might need a break, as she has no reaction to him collapsing after lifting Barnaby in “Eddie’s Big Lift,” instead immediately suggesting that he try to lift Poppy and Howdy next.

Poppy Patridge

Eddie is far from exempt from Poppy's doting, especially given his workaholic tendencies. Eddie, being Eddie, assures her there's nothing to worry about as long as he has things to deliver.

Barnaby B. Beagle

If there is anything Barnaby takes seriously, it is the oath that all cartoon dogs must follow: to chase the local mailman. Whether or not Eddie agrees to this is irrelevant, as much as Eddie himself wishes otherwise.

Sally Starlet

For as-of-yet unknown reasons, Sally is dismissive of Eddie to a degree that is rarely seen in any other neighbor. In both the WHRP's findings and secrets such as the bug videos, she often ignores his input, attempts to outdo him, and refuses to acknowledge his talents outside of manual labor, even when they could serve her well (such as him being able to recount specific details of various classical novels or archetypes from the commedia dell'arte.) Eddie is also the only neighbor that Sally never graces with a nickname - instead, she only ever addresses him as “mailman.” Curiously, it is Sally who invites Eddie to that fateful Homewarming party, and it is Sally that Frank is seen talking to when Eddie comes to. It is currently unclear what significance this could hold.

Howdy Pillar

Although Howdy isn’t outright hostile towards Eddie, it’s clear that he isn’t nearly as interested as Eddie is in interacting beyond work-related matters. In 13-14-he, he is audibly annoyed by Eddie’s clumsiness and tendency to ramble, and is quick to look for an excuse to send him on his way to end their conversation.

Home

Home was the only other entity present in the void Eddie found himself in at the Homewarming party. Their exact role in this event, however, is unknown as of the time of this writing.

Trivia

Note: In order to ensure that this wiki has the most accurate information it can, this list does not cite any posts prior to January 2021.

• Eddie is roughly 4 feet tall. [Source: 1]
• Like every other neighbor, Eddie is an adult. [Sources: [Source: 1, 2]
• Eddie, along with several other neighbors, is neurodivergent. [Source: 1]
• Eddie is gay. [Source: 1, 2]
• On a related note, Clown has confirmed that Eddie and Frank either are or will be in a relationship at some point (and also admits that while not a major spoiler, it’s something he probably should have kept quiet about while still writing Welcome Home.) [Source: 1]
• Eddie has a strong preference for hot comfort food, with bread pudding being a particular favorite. Although he does not enjoy eating gelatin molds, he finds the look of them very pretty. [Source: 1]
• Eddie’s favorite coffee would be a blonde roast with only a little bit of sugar. [Source: 1]
• In a band or other musical arrangement, Eddie would play the violin. [Source: 1]
• Clown associates the song “Esperar pra Ver” by Evinha with Eddie and Frank. [Source: 1]
• Eddie styles his hair with standard white school glue. He would not use glitter glue, as he doesn’t consider it very professional. [Source: 1, 2, 3]
• Eddie is left-handed. [Source: 1]
• Eddie’s clock being only one of two in the entirety of Home was first revealed in a piece of concept art from December 2022. [Source: 1]
• The character of Eddie was first conceptualized in 2020. [Source: 1]
• Some design inspirations for Eddie include Parakarry from Paper Mario, SD Kluger from the Rankin/Bass specials Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and The Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town, and Glockenspiel from It’s a Small World. [Source: 1]
• Eddie’s surname was originally going to be “Pepper,” with “Dear” being given to Julie instead. [Sources: 1, 2]
• Eddie was originally going to be a milkman, until Clown asked himself why a puppet would need milk and realized they couldn’t think of an answer. [Source: 1]
• Eddie’s favorite kind of cheesecake is s’mores cheesecake. [Source: 1]
• In an Alice in Wonderland AU/adaptation, Eddie would be the White Rabbit. [Source: 1]
• Eddie’s voice was inspired by American actor Andy Griffith. [Source: 1]
• Eddie’s favorite Muppet would be Oscar the Grouch. [Source: 1]
• It is considered “normal” for Frank to ask Eddie for help with his garden. Eddie has a “delicate hand” for it. [Source: 1]
• One of Eddie’s favorite dance moves (or at least, one he knows well enough) is the stroll. [Source: 1]
• Although Wally would look the most fashionable in the other neighbors’ outfits, Eddie is a close second. [Source: 1]
• Eddie was the one to teach Wally how to draw a heart. In general, heart motifs are very common in Eddie’s crafts, making it little surprise that “Mail-in-Time” day is associated with him. [Source: 1, 2]
• Perhaps unsurprisingly, Eddie also collects stamps. [Source: 1]
• Eddie sleeps on a Murphy bed in the post office. [Source: 1]
• Eddie is often the one to keep Frank’s head steady whenever it begins to spin uncontrollably, as his hands are the perfect size for it. [Source: 1]
• Eddie running into Frank at full speed while the former is making his rounds is/was planned to be a running gag. [Source: 1]
• Frank often attempts to help Eddie try out different techniques for remembering tasks in a more timely fashion. Most of these are unsuccessful, but Eddie often goes along with them to be polite. [Source: 1]
• Eddie holds one-sided conversations with his belongings often. These conversations often include pet names, and they help with his forgetfulness. [Source: 1]
• Eddie would make a poor chef, as he would keep straying from the recipe. [Source: 1]
• If Eddie were to play Splatoon, he would wield the E-liter, as it would be the best fit for someone as precise as him. [Sources: 1, 2]
• Eddie’s favorite kind of art is, of course, any kind of paper crafting, but sewing is a close second. [Sources: 1, 2]
• Of all the neighbors, Eddie would be the most responsible with a cool sword, although this does not necessarily mean he would most want a cool sword. He would only use it for ridiculously mundane tasks such as cutting cardstock or as a paperweight/hat rack. [Source: 1]
• There are two reasons Eddie is always in a rush: the first being that he cannot resist an opportunity to help others, and the second being he often gets so absorbed in a given task to the point where he cannot break away until it is finished. [Source: 1, 2]
• Eddie would “find some appeal” in The Huckleberry Hound Show. [Source: 1]