Few songs announce Christmas as quickly as “Jingle Bells.” The opening notes can make us picture snow, presents, decorated trees and Santa’s sleigh before anyone sings a word.
There is just one problem with that picture: The original song never mentions Christmas.
It Began as “The One Horse Open Sleigh”
The earliest documented sheet music was published in Boston by Oliver Ditson in 1857. Written and composed by James Lord Pierpont, it carried the title The One Horse Open Sleigh.
The familiar opening was already there:
Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O’er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
But the song was about energetic winter recreation rather than a quiet Christmas celebration. Its lesser-known verses describe a fast sleigh ride, a spill in the snow and a young man’s advice to enjoy sleighing while he is young.
There are no Christmas trees, presents, stockings, reindeer or references to December 25. The snow and bells eventually made the song feel perfectly at home during the holiday season.
Where Was It Written?
That seemingly simple question has produced a surprisingly lively disagreement.
Medford, Massachusetts, has long claimed that Pierpont wrote the song in a local tavern in 1850 after watching sleigh races. Savannah, Georgia, where Pierpont later lived and is buried, has its own claim to the song’s history.
Research by theatre historian Kyna Hamill found serious problems with the famous Medford story. Pierpont was apparently in California during 1850, not writing songs in a Massachusetts tavern. Hamill’s research identified a playbill documenting a September 15, 1857, performance in Boston, but the precise place where Pierpont composed the song remains uncertain.
In 1859, it was copyrighted again under the more recognizable title Jingle Bells, or The One Horse Open Sleigh.
A Complicated First Stage
The song’s early performance history also includes a part that should not be hidden. Historical research connects its first documented performances to blackface minstrelsy, a popular nineteenth-century entertainment built around racist caricatures of Black people.
That history may surprise families who know “Jingle Bells” only as an innocent children’s song. Acknowledging it does not require abandoning the music children sing today. It allows us to tell the song’s story accurately instead of replacing difficult evidence with a cheerful legend.
From Sleigh Rides to Outer Space
Over the following decades, “Jingle Bells” appeared in song collections and gradually became associated with Christmas. By the early twentieth century, it was firmly established as a holiday favorite.
Then, on December 16, 1965, astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford made it part of space history. During the Gemini 6 mission, they surprised Mission Control with a playful report about an unidentified object in orbit—then performed “Jingle Bells” using a tiny harmonica and a set of miniature bells.
According to NASA, they were the first musical instruments played in outer space.
Try a Family Listening Challenge
Sing the familiar first verse, then ask your child: “Which words make this feel like Christmas?”
Snow, sleighs and bells may lead the list—but children may notice that the song never actually names the holiday. Then invent a new family verse containing one unmistakable Christmas detail. The rhyme does not have to be perfect. The goal is to listen closely, laugh and create together.
Jingle Bells Gets the Storybooksong Treatment
When I created my version of "Jingle Bells" for Storybooksong, I wanted to preserve the familiar holiday favorite while bringing it to life with colorful characters and a playful animated adventure.
In our version, the King, Queen, Jack, and Jill take a snowy sleigh ride together. The familiar melody and lyrics remain at the heart of the song, giving children a chance to enjoy a Christmas classic with a little Storybooksong personality.
Come along for the ride!
Want to sing along? Visit our Jingle Bells song page for the lyrics and video.
The Good News for Parents
Old children’s songs are not museum pieces. They travel through time, collect new meanings and become part of new family memories.
“Jingle Bells” began as a lively nineteenth-century sleighing song, carried a complicated early performance history, became a Christmas standard and eventually reached outer space.
Every time families sing it together, they add one more small chapter to a story that has already lasted nearly 170 years.
Sources & Further Reading
Library of Congress: The One Horse Open Sleigh, original 1857 sheet-music record.
Hamill, Kyna. “‘The Story I Must Tell’: ‘Jingle Bells’ in the Minstrel Repertoire.” Theatre Survey.
Boston University: “History of Jingle Bells.”
NASA: “Space Station 20th: Music on ISS.”
