Jingle Bells is one of the most popular Christmas songs to ever exist, but what if I told you that it initially didn’t have anything to do with Christmas? You probably wouldn’t believe me! I mean, Jingle Bells is an untimely classic Christmas song that you hear at every elementary school band and chorus concert, but it’s true. James Lord Pierpont wrote Jingle Bells in the autumn of 1857. The original name it was published as was “The One Horse Open Sleigh.” It was originally written to be a Thanksgiving song or a drinking song. It became associated with Christmas music in the 1860s and 1870s. Jingle Bells was one of the first songs to broadcast from space during a Christmas-themed prank by Gemini 6 astronauts, Tom Stanford and Wally Schirra. Next time you listen to Jingle Bells, think about how that untimely Christmas classic wasn’t supposed to be a Christmas.
Student Column: The Surprising History of Jingle Bells
November 28, 2022