Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Volga Bam here with a classic
Speaker 1: episode from our previous host, Christian Sager. Some common names
Speaker 1: that we give our pets are more self explanatory than others. Spot, Colonel,
Speaker 1: fluffy pants, the classics, you know, But how did Fido
Speaker 1: become shorthand for a friendly and loyal dog? Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: it's Christian Sager here. You may have met a furry ace, Bandit,
Speaker 1: Jack or Sparky, but the chance of being introduced to
Speaker 1: a Fido are much much lower these days. Fido doesn't
Speaker 1: even make the top one hundred, but the once popular
Speaker 1: name for male dogs has become a generic shorthand for
Speaker 1: dog itself. So just why is the dog name Fido
Speaker 1: such a part of the American lexicon? Well, the credit
Speaker 1: goes to Abraham Lincoln, America's sixteen president. Before he was
Speaker 1: comming er in chief and still lived in Springfield, Illinois,
Speaker 1: Lincoln's household included several dogs and cats. One particularly therapeutic
Speaker 1: dog was Fido, a mixed breed dog of yellow hue
Speaker 1: whose name is Latin for faithful. Fido became Lincoln's near
Speaker 1: constant companion about five years before the then lawyer became president.
Speaker 1: According to the Presidential Pet Museum, Fido enjoyed scraps from
Speaker 1: Lincoln's plate at meals, patiently waited outside the barbershop or
Speaker 1: any other establishment Lincoln patronized, and generally became well known
Speaker 1: as a good natured dog around town. In eighteen sixty three,
Speaker 1: as he prepared to move to the White House, it
Speaker 1: became apparent that Fido was a little too friendly and
Speaker 1: perhaps ill mannered for high office. In fact, a nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty four profile of Fido published in Life magazine called
Speaker 1: him a frisky mongrel. To ensure Fido had a good
Speaker 1: life back in springfiel Field, Lincoln decided to have a
Speaker 1: local carpenter and his family take care of Fido, leaving
Speaker 1: them detailed instructions for the dog's proper care and spoiling.
Speaker 1: Fido was never to be chided for having muddy pause
Speaker 1: in the house, and he was to be given scraps
Speaker 1: from the table at meal time. To help soothe the
Speaker 1: sense of loss, Lincoln had Fido's formal portrait taken with
Speaker 1: the relatively new photographic technology, or so the story goes,
Speaker 1: regardless of its providence, the photo made its way into
Speaker 1: numerous newspapers, and shortly thereafter Fido, both the dog and
Speaker 1: the name skyrocketed in popularity. The name's meteoric rise continued
Speaker 1: during Lincoln's presidency and was further fueled by his assassination
Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty five. As mourners flocked to Springfield for
Speaker 1: the president's funeral, the carpenter returned to Lincoln's home with
Speaker 1: Fido and let the mourning public meet the dog. Justice
Speaker 1: Fido's man ster was killed by another man, so too
Speaker 1: did Fido meet an unfortunate end at the hands of
Speaker 1: another In eighteen sixty six, a year after Lincoln's assassination, Fido,
Speaker 1: ever the trusting and people loving dog, came across a
Speaker 1: man apparently sleeping on a sidewalk. Fido started to lick
Speaker 1: the man's face, which prompted the man, who was drunk
Speaker 1: at the time, to awaken panic and pull a knife
Speaker 1: at the sight of the dog's mouth so close to
Speaker 1: his face, stabbing Fido in self defense. With the popularity
Speaker 1: of the name peeking in the late eighteen hundreds, Fido
Speaker 1: made its way into the public consciousness during an era
Speaker 1: when mass media was taking hold in the country and
Speaker 1: remained there for years to come. While Fido met a
Speaker 1: tragic end, his name lives on in popular culture, signifying
Speaker 1: the platonic ideal of a friendly, faithful hooch. Today's episode
Speaker 1: was written by Lauriel Dove and produced by Dylan Fagan
Speaker 1: and Tyler Clay. For more on this and lots of
Speaker 1: other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
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