The Thanksgiving Song That Turned Into a Christmas Classic, “Jingle Bells”

James Lord Pierpont originally wrote “The One Horse Open Sleigh” in 1850 for his father’s Sunday school class Thanksgiving church service. He’d written the song while sitting at the Simpson Tavern in Medford, Massachusetts.

The song was performed during Thanksgiving church services and in 1857, Pierpont copyrighted the song as “One Horse Open Sleigh.” That year, it was performed for the first time by minstrel performer Johnny Pell at Ordway Hall in Boston. Pierpont later changed the title to “Jingle Bells,” referencing the belled harnesses on horses to prevent collisions in wintry weather.

He rereleased the song in 1959 under its new title since Jingle Bells became more associated with the song than One Horse Open Sleigh.

Pierpont’s lyrics depict the sleigh races her remembered as a child that were held on Salem Street in Medford during the early 1800s.

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O’er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh, hey
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh

[RELATED: Sunday School Tune or Drinking Song?—The Meaning Behind “Jingle Bells”]

Nothing Yuletide About It

Though “Jingle Bells” became synonymous with Christmas by the late 19th through the early 20th century, there was never any mention of the holiday in the song, and it was primarily linked to Thanksgiving and used as a drinking song.

As early as the 1860s and 1870s, “Jingle Bells” started to become associated with Christmas music and it was first recorded on an Edison cylinder in 1889. It was considered the first Christmas recording, though it was lost. A later recording of “Jingle Bells” from 1898 by the Edison Male Quartette still exists.

By the 1900s, the song became associated more with Christmas after it was recorded by the Hayden Quartet and other groups and more big band orchestras throughout the 1920s and ’30s and singers like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra by the early 1940s.

Before and After “Jingle Bells”

Before writing “Jingle Bells,” Pierpont also composed a collection of other songs, including “The Returned Californian” in 1852 and “Kitty Crow” in 1853, along with “To the Loved Ones at Home” (1854), “The Starlight Serenade” (1955), and “Gentle Nettie Moore” (1857), co-written with the poet Marshall S. Pike, among many others.

In 2006, Bob Dylan based his song “Nettie Moore,” from his album Modern Times, on Pierpont’s original version and the traditional folk song “Moonshiner.” Dylan turned song tells the story of a wandering cowboy singer longing for his love back home—Got a pile of sins to pay for and I ain’t got time to hide / I’d walk through a blazing fire, baby, if I knew you was on the other side.

During the Civil War, Pierpont also penned some confederate anthems including “Our Battle Flag!”, “We Conquer, or Die!” and “Strike for the South.”

Since its release, “Jingle Bells” has been recorded nearly 2,000 times by everyone from Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Gene Autry, Perry Cuomo, Peggy Lee, Paul Anka, Ella Fitzgerald, Pattie LaBelle, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and hundreds of other contemporary artists.

In 1965, “Jingle Bells” became the first song ever played in space by Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra.

Photo: Sheet music to “Jingle Bells” (Getty Images)