After leaving grammar school he worked as an office boy, and then went into the real estate business, until the cataclysmic 1906 San Francisco earthquake wiped out his fortune.

Nachman recorded that Bowes, "a businesslike fellow with a mirthless chuckle who, unlike most emcees, had a gift for nongab," went out of his way to make contestants feel at ease, often taking them to dinner before their appearances.

Nineteen months after Bowes' death, on January 18, 1948, the program, with Mack as host, debuted on the DuMont Television Network.

Bowes was referred to in Cab Calloway's "I Love to Singa" from the movie The Singing Kid (1936), and in the Dorothy Fields lyrics for "Never Gonna Dance," from the Astaire-Rogers film Swing Time (1936).

Major Bowes is referenced in two The Twilight Zone episodes: "Static" (1961), where his show is heard on a mysterious radio that tunes into channels that no longer exist; his famous catch phrase "round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows," is mentioned; as well as the episode “Young Man’s Fancy” (1962).

In 1939, Major Bowes donated his multi-acre Ossining estate,[5] known as "Laurel Hill," to the Lutheran Church, where it is still being enjoyed as an ecumenical retreat center.

Run by a board of Lutheran lay persons and clergy, it is known as Major Edward Bowes Memorial Retreat, and operates year-round for students, church, and community groups in the greater New York metro area.