President Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace were avid animal lovers. As such, they owned a veritable zoo before, during, and after their time in the White House. One feathered family member was Snowflake, a white canary.
In the spring of 1921, the Coolidges moved to Washington D.C. so that the then-Vice President could better attend to his duties. Instead of renting a home, the Coolidges stayed at the Willard Hotel. When it came to pets, this frustrated the couple as they were both avid animal lovers. But dogs and cats are not practical in a hotel. A friend suggested they acquire birds, instead – and so the informal aviary was begun. Nip and Tuck came first, followed by Snowflake and his companion Peter Piper.
Snowflake was a white canary that traveled with his family to their vacation home in the Adirondacks during the summer. After the Coolidge family left the Willard for a semi-private home, Snowflake was joined by a menagerie of other pets. Little information is available on Snowflake – unlike some of his more boisterous family members, he appears to have kept a low profile.
