#HIMYM Memories: Artifacts

After tonight there are only 2 more Monday nights with new episodes of my TV obsession, How I Met Your Mother. For these three Mondays I will be sharing some HIMYM memories here on my blog as my way of paying tribute to a truly great show. Today I want to remember some items- artifacts if you will- that have played an important role in the 9 year history of the show. This is in no way meant to be an exclusive list. These are just a few of my favorites...

*  The Yellow Umbrella - This came to be the symbol of hope for Ted as his love life ebbed and flowed over the history of the show, because it represented the Mother. It was her umbrella, which Ted "borrowed" from a St. Patrick's Day party in 2008, only to return it to her accidentally while on a date with her roommate. Even as I write this, Ted knows known of this. But we do. Thus the brilliance of the show.

*  The Playbook - Barney's elaborate collection of amazing schemes and gimmicks designed to help him pick up women. My personal favorite- The Weekend at Barney's, where he reenacts the movie Weekend at Bernie's and meets women while pretending to be dead. He burned the playbook after becoming engaged to Robin, but he recreated it from memory and passed it on to a couple of hopeless young men a few weeks ago. The episode where he tricks everyone in the gang with The Scuba Diver is also a favorite! 

*  The Swords- When Ted and Marshall first moved into their apartment in Manhattan they bought swords to hand on the wall. Those swords became part of two epic sword fights. Marshall and Ted dueled to see who would get the apartment after Lilly and Marshall got married. It ended when Lilly walked in and was wounded. Later in the series we discover that Lilly and Robin also go into a duel as a joke, in which Lilly hilariously misquoted The Princess Bride and cut an expensive dress in half.

*  Marshall's Fiero - Marshall's car from high school played an integral role in the early years of the show. The episode in which the car dies just short of 200,000 miles gives us stories of Marshall and Ted becoming best friends over a road trip in a blizzard while in college, and of Robin and Lilly bonding over staging a break in to the car to cover up spilled food. And Barney trying to learn to drive. But the best part was the tale of how a cassette tape of The Proclaimers singing I Wanna Be the Man (500 Miles) was stuck in the car's tape player and for years had been the only song you could hear. The Fiero died that day, but its 
memory lives on in that song!

*The Red Cowboy Boots - Ted gets talked into buying ugly red cowboy boots by a hot salesgirl. They make various appearances over the years, most notably an episode where Ted wears them everywhere and insists on telling everyone that he is "pulling them off." The boots are eventually destroyed in a fiery blaze by Ted's crazy "last girlfriend" before he meets the Mother - Jeanette.

* The Pineapple- In season 1, episode 10 Ted gets very drunk and cannot remember the events of the night before when he wake up. With the help of the gang and Carl the Bartender he pieces the story together- with one exception. There was a pineapple on his nightstand. On a show that meticulously follows up on every loose end, we still do not know where that pineapple came from. It had been mentioned, but it is a mystery not even The Mosby Boys can solve. Maybe in the finale... 

*  Puzzles - The "Bar" that Barney and Ted open in the apartment on a couple of occasions when they on the outs with McLaren's, their usual home away from home. They had great hopes and dreams for the place. Why Puzzles? That's the puzzle...

* The Blue French Horn - For me, this artifact from the very first episode has always symbolized the very heart of How I Met Your Mother. Ted meets Robin and immediately begins to fall in love. They have dinner at a place called Carmichaels's, where a blue French horn hands over the mantle. Robin mentions how much she loves it. Later in the episode Ted is returning to to Robin's apartment (after ruining everything by blurting out "I think I love you" on a first date) and he stops by the restaurant and steals her the blue French horn. It becomes the symbol of his undying love for Robin- which is still in place even now, as she prepares to marry Barney and he is about to finally meet the Mother. Later, as her part of their romantic relationship is ending, Robin laments "but you stole me a blue French horn." Ted responds, "I would have stolen you a whole orchestra." And he would have...

So there's my list, although I could go on and on. What did I miss, HIMYM fans? Three shows to go. Three more Mondays of great television. Let me know if I you'll be watching with me.