Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 56 · American Carols · Page 80 in print
Jingle Bells
James Pierpont re-copyrighted his sleigh song in 1859 as “Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh,” and in 1898 the Edison Male Quartette recorded it on a cylinder.
Jump to a word
The words
Bobtail
The bobtailed horse whose bells ring in the first verse.
Edison
The Edison cylinder of 1898, the song’s first recording.
Boston University: Jingle Bells: The Untold (opens a new tab)
Gemini
The Gemini 6 spaceflight of December 1965.
Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush, where Pierpont was in 1850.
Boston University: Jingle Bells: The Untold (opens a new tab)
Harmonica
The small harmonica played aboard Gemini 6.
Medford
Massachusetts town that claims the song was written there.
Boston University: Jingle Bells: The Untold (opens a new tab)
Oliver Ditson
Boston music publisher of the 1857 first edition.
Open Sleigh
From the song’s first title, The One Horse Open Sleigh.
Pierpont
James Pierpont, who wrote words and music.
Santa Claus
The UFO the astronauts pretended to see before playing.
Savannah
Georgia city that also claims the song.
Boston University: Jingle Bells: The Untold (opens a new tab)
Sleighing Song
The sleighing song the riders sing in the first verse.
Smithsonian
The Smithsonian, which received the Gemini 6 harmonica and bells.
Tom Stafford
Gemini 6 astronaut who played the bells.
Wally Schirra
Gemini 6 astronaut who played the harmonica.
Sources
- Arkansas Primary Source Sets (UA Little Rock, Library of Congress TPS grant), “Winter Holiday Celebrations: Object #1”ualrexhibits.org
- Jingle Bells: The Untold HistoryBoston University, BU Today, “‘Jingle Bells’ History Takes Surprising Turn” (2016)
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, collection object A19670148000, “Harmonica, Gemini 6”airandspace.si.edu
- IMSLP, “The One Horse Open Sleigh (Pierpont, James)”, first-edition scan from the Library of Congress (US-Wc)IMSLP