The Story Behind How I Met Your Mother's Iconic Blue French Horn: What Inspired It And Where It Is Now

I still believe How I Met Your Mother is one of the best sitcoms of all time. While I certainly empathize with people who were disappointed by the tragic series finale in 2014, you cannot deny that its pilot episode, originally airing on CBS in 2005, was something special. The first chapter of Ted Mosby’s (Josh Radnor) search for love not only did a wonderful job establishing the awesome characters in the HIMYM cast, the show’s unique narrative structure, and its irreverent tone, but it also introduced one of the series' most iconic recurring elements: the Blue French Horn.

The unusually colored brass instrument is first spotted at the restaurant where Ted and Robin (Cobie Smulders) have their first date and would go on to appear in more of the best How I Met Your Mother episodes. It has since become recognized by fans of the show as a symbol of Ted’s almost heroic approach to romance, but how did such a unique object like this come to be such an important part of the show? Kids, allow me to tell you that story.

The Blue French Horn Was Invented To Be Ted's Right Of Passage

In my opinion, one of the top How I Met Your Mother moments that prove Ted is a good guy is in the pilot (which was a maddening experience for Radnor to revisit, apparently) when he steals the Blue French Horn and presents it to Robin as a token of his affection. On a rewatch podcast he hosts with Radnor called How We Made Your Mother, co-creator Craig Thomas explains what led him and Carter Bays to incorporate the instrument into the story. As you can see from the following quote, the duo looked to the unlikely area of Greek mythology for inspiration:

Radnor then mentions how Ted probably never committed an act of thievery before this occasion, before Thomas admits seeing him and the gang discussing the first time they stole anything might have made for a great episode. I will admit that I realize it sounds odd for me to praise a crime like this, but Robin was clearly moved by the gesture and was brought to tears in the Season 2 ender when the couple was forced to return it. No matter how one may feel about the series finale (which also had a more favored alternate ending), I hope they were at least excited to see Ted present the Blue French Horn to her once more in its final scene.

Josh Radnor Is The Current Owner Of The Blue French Horn

If you have ever wondered where the Blue French Horn is today in real life, that question is also answered in the same episode of How We Made Your Mother. As it turns out, the owner is Ted Mosby himself.

Radnor recalls, after How I Met Your Mother had wrapped, being asked by the props department if he and the fellow cast members would like to keep anything from the show. He chose to take the Blue French Horn, which now hangs in his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as he acknowledges on the podcast.

It kind of makes me wonder what happened to any of the other iconic props from How I Met Your Mother? Does Neil Patrick Harris have Barney Stinson’s ducky tie? Did Cristin Milioti keep the yellow umbrella used by Tracy “The Mother” McConnell? Maybe those questions will be answered in a future episode of How We Made Your Mother.