Jingle Bells - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Did you know...

The merry tune of "Jingle Bells" is perhaps the most recognizable of all Christmas music. Often it is the first holiday song learned by children. Though by strict definition not a Christmas carol, it is one of the top twenty-five songs in the history of recorded music. It is also the source of modern-day controversy.

Written by Pierpoint sometime during the late 1840s or early 1850s, "Jingle Bells" was publicly performed for a Thanksgiving program at the Savannah, Georgia Unitarian Universalist Church in 1857 where Pierpoint was the organist. His merry little tune proved so popular that it was requested for the Christmas program at the church a month later. From there, its fame grew. That is about all the facts about Pierpoint and the song that historians can agree upon.

From his hometown in Medford, the claim was made that "Jingle Bells" was written in Simpson's Tavern in 1850. A historical monument marked the spot and listed witnesses who apparently heard Pierpoint perform the tune at the tavern piano while reminiscing of the Salem Street sleigh races of his youth. According to local history, Pierpoint evidently tucked his written copy of Jingle Bells away in a chest where he later found it after he had moved to Georgia in the late 1850s.

But folks in Savannah, Georgia do not see it that way.

Pierpoint made his home there after 1853. He fought for the Confederate cause during the Civil War (writing several forgettable patriotic songs in the process) and was buried there. Their biggest claim to fame, however, is that "Jingle Bells" was copyrighted there in 1857 after the famous church performances. In making the case of ownership over Pierpoint and Jingle Bells, local historians point out that James Pierpoint was in California in 1850, thus he could not have been in Medford for the creation of the song. Though Savannah sits in the heart of balmy Dixie, where nary a snowflake falls, they claim "Jingle Bells" as their own and in 1985 placed a memorial of their own on the former site of the old church.

That is when the mayor of Medford took them to task.

"In the words of Shakespeare, it is our intention to keep our 'honor from corruption,' " Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn wrote in a 1989 letter to the mayor of Savannah. "We unequivocally state that 'Jingle Bells' was composed ... in the town of Medford during the year 1850!"

More recently, historians have unearthed new evidence suggesting that Pierpoint may have played Jingle Bells for another church crowd in the mid 1840s -- in Medford.

Regardless, it was probably never the intention of James Pierpoint to author a holiday classic. From all accounts, it appears he never really made any money off of his copyright on the work. It has survived for generations on the simple premise that it is a snappy tune, easily learned and infectiously memorable.

These are the original lyrics, as recorded in the Library of Congress:

Dashing thro' the snow,
In a one-horse open sleigh,
O'er the hills we go,
Laughing all the way;
Bells on bob tail ring,
Making spirits bright,
Oh what sport to ride and sing
A sleighing song to night.

Chorus:
Jingle bells, Jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what joy it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, Jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what joy it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago,
I thought I'd take a ride,
And soon Miss Fannie Bright
Was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank;
Misfortune seemed his lot,
He got into a drifted bank,
And we, we got upsot.

Chorus

A day or two ago,
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away.

Chorus

Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls to night
And sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bob tailed bay
Two forty as his speed.
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack, you'll take the lead.

Chorus

Read more at The Battle Over Jingle Bells

Get in the spirit each holiday season at the Arthritis Foundation's Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis. Be one of the thousands of runners and walkers who hit the nation's pavements, pathways and parks this winter to fight the nation's number one cause of disability.

Jingle Bell Run/Walk is a fun and festive way to kick off your holidays by helping others! Wear a holiday themed costume. Tie jingle bells to your shoelaces. Run or walk a 5 kilometer route with your team members and celebrate the season by giving.

Take a paper cup and cover it with aluminum foil on the interior and exterior to give it a nice silver color.

Cut two pieces of pipe cleaner each about 4 inches long and either a chime for your bell from paper or a real jingle bell.

Flip the cup over and create a pipe cleaner loop centered in the bottom of the cup to allow you to hang up your bell later. Attach the chime to the other section of pipe cleaner.

Flip the cup over and attach the chime to the interior of the cup at the bottom center.

Decorate the outside of your bell with wonderful paper shapes and designs. Add holly leaves and berries to the top of the bell to make it more festive looking.

For this and other Holiday Crafts for kids see Little Kid Christmas Crafts

The Red Kettle Christmas Campaign enables the Army to provide food, toys and clothing to over 6 million people during the Christmas season and helps more than 34 million Americans recovering from all kinds of personal disasters nationwide.


The Red Kettle campaign, first started in San Francisco in 1891, has traditionally been The Salvation Army's most prominent fund-raiser. In 2004, the campaign raised over $100 million in communities nationwide, with the nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars all remaining in the towns where the money was deposited into the kettles. The funds raised help support many of the 37 million people in poverty who turn to the Army for food and toys at Christmas, utility and homeless assistance, senior and child care, drug abuse treatment and many other social service needs.

Use this Jingle Bell in Christmas colors to decorate a gift or as a tree ornament. Use it for a winter wedding shower decoration or party favor in white and other colors.

Materials: small amount of worsted weight yarn in red, green, white, gold, or color of your choice
Small jingle bell.
Needles: a set of 4 double pointed US size 5 needles

Abbreviations:
Dp/dpn = double pointed/double pointed needle(s)
St/sts = stitch/stitches
Rnd = round
Rep = repeat
K = knit
M1 = make one, an increase made by picking up the bar between 2 sts, making a twist in it and knitting it.
I-cord = a small tube made by moving the sts to the opposite end of a dpn, pulling the end of the yarn around back of the sts, and k all sts. Repeat for each row.

With dp needle, cast on 3 sts. Work I-cord on these 3 sts for 12 rows.
Rnd 1: move sts to other end of needle, as if doing I-cord. K1, m1 and leave these 2 sts on first needle; k1, m1 and leave these 2 sts on second needle; k1 and leave on third needle [5 sts]. Mark end of rnd.
Rnd 2: k all sts.
Rnd 3: * k1, m1, rep from * to end [10 sts].
Rnd 4: rep rnd 2.
Rnd 5: rep rnd 3 [20 sts].
Rnds 6-17: rep rnd 2.
Rnd 18: * (k1, m1) x4, k1, rep from * to end [36 sts].
Rnds 19-20: rep rnd 2.
Rnd 21: bind off loosely in purl.

Finishing: stitch I-cord at top of bell to form a loop. Bring end of yarn to inside of bell and attach a jingle bell. Weave loose ends on inside of work.

Provide different sizes and types of bells. Demonstrate how each bell sounds. Have the children turn their backs. Play the bells one at a time.

The children raise their hands high over their head when a bell sound is higher than the one before it and crouch down to the floor when the sound is lower.

Have Fun Jingling!!!