“Jingle Bells” is one of the first songs people think of when someone mentions Christmas, and the holiday season would be incomplete without it. Written by James Lord Pierpont in 1850, this festive tune became one of the symbols of Christmas over the years, but did you know it wasn’t envisioned with this holiday in mind?
If the plaque in the center of Medford Square in Medford, Massachusetts is to be trusted, Pierpont wrote this iconic carol in 1850 at the Simpson Tavern. He didn’t copyright it until 1857 when it was originally given the name “The One Horse Open Sleigh”, reportedly drawing inspiration from the town’s popular sleigh races during the 19th century.
“Jingle Bells” went on to become one of the most performed and most recognizable Christmas songs ever written, but it originally had no connection with this holiday. Some reports claim that Pierpont wrote it for a Thanksgiving program at his father’s Sunday school, while others believe its lyrics weren’t appropriate enough to include it in the church program of the 1850s.
Countless versions of the song had been recorded over the years, starting with Will Lyle’s version on Edison cylinder from 1889, which has no surviving copies. The Edison Male Quartette recorded the first surviving vocal rendition in 1898, and they were followed by many other artists, from Frank Sinatra to Michael Bublé.
“Jingle Bells” made history again on December 16, 1965, when it became one of the first songs to broadcast from space. Astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra played it after making a joke about seeing an unidentified flying object piloted by Santa Claus.