The festive jingle of “Jingle Bells” is synonymous with the holiday season, instantly conjuring images of snowy sleigh rides and Christmas cheer. For many, the quaint town of Medford, Massachusetts, holds a special place in the song’s history, claiming it as the birthplace of this beloved carol. However, the true story behind “Jingle Bells Song” is far more complex and captivating than local lore suggests, leading us down a path that challenges cherished myths and reveals a surprising origin in the unlikeliest of venues.
The Medford Myth and a Historian’s Quest
In Medford, a plaque proudly marks 19 High Street, declaring it the very spot where James Lord Pierpont penned “Jingle Bells” in 1850. The romantic tale paints a picture of Pierpont, inspired by the winter sleigh races on Salem Street, composing the tune within the walls of a local tavern. This narrative has been a source of local pride for years, readily shared by the Medford Historical Society and enthusiastically repeated by reporters during the holiday season.
However, Kyna Hamill, a theatre historian and lecturer, stumbled upon a conflicting narrative that piqued her curiosity. Volunteering at the Medford Historical Society, she encountered the persistent “Jingle Bells” origin story. Yet, she also discovered a rival claim from Savannah, Georgia, where Pierpont is buried. Savannah insists that Pierpont wrote the song there in late 1857 and even led the first public singalong at a church where his brother served as pastor. This bi-location of the song’s genesis sparked Hamill’s in-depth investigation, leading her to unravel a history far more intricate and intriguing than the simple Medford myth.
Debunking the Medford Tavern Tale
Hamill’s research journey led her to question the Medford narrative directly. Delving into historical records, she uncovered a critical piece of information: in 1850, the year Medford claims “Jingle Bells song” was written, James Lord Pierpont was not enjoying tavern life in Massachusetts. He was in California, caught up in the fervor of the Gold Rush, desperately seeking fortune. His aspirations as a daguerreotype artist offered fleeting success, abruptly extinguished when a San Francisco fire consumed his shop in 1851, leaving him broke and forcing his return to Boston.
“I don’t have the definite answer to where he sat down and wrote the song,” Hamill admits, “But—and this is where my town is going to be mad at me—it was absolutely not written in 1850 at the Simpson Tavern in Medford.” The timeline simply doesn’t align with Pierpont’s known whereabouts, effectively dismantling the Medford origin story.
The Boston Debut: “One Horse Open Sleigh”
Further investigation unearthed a pivotal clue: a playbill from September 15, 1857. This artifact, housed in the Harvard Theater Collection, announces the very first known performance of a song titled “One Horse Open Sleigh.” The venue was Ordway Hall in Boston, a popular entertainment spot. This playbill places the song’s debut seven years later than the Medford claim and in a different city altogether.
“One Horse Open Sleigh,” the original title of what would become “Jingle Bells song,” was performed by Johnny Pell, part of Ordway’s Aeolians, a troupe known for their minstrel shows. Ordway Hall was a hub for this form of entertainment, where white performers in blackface presented caricatures of African Americans to largely white, middle-class audiences. This revelation places the origins of “Jingle Bells” within the context of 19th-century minstrelsy, a far cry from the wholesome Christmas imagery it evokes today.
Minstrel Roots and a Peripatetic Composer
James Lord Pierpont’s life story adds another layer of complexity to the “Jingle Bells song” narrative. Far from a simple holiday composer, Pierpont was a man of contradictions and financial struggles. The son of a staunch abolitionist, he controversially sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War, composing songs to rally Confederate troops. Prior to his foray into minstrelsy, Pierpont’s attempts at financial stability were marked by failures, including his ill-fated Gold Rush venture.
His first known song for Ordway’s performers, “The Returned Californian,” written in 1852, reflects his personal experience of returning from California empty-handed and in debt. This context suggests that Pierpont, always in need of money, likely wrote songs for commercial purposes. It’s improbable that he would have penned a well-received song like “Jingle Bells song” in 1850 and then shelved it for seven years without attempting to capitalize on its potential.
The Sheet Music and Copyright
Shortly after its debut performance, “One Horse Open Sleigh” was copyrighted by Pierpont. In 1859, he re-copyrighted it under the now-familiar title, “Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh.” This timeline aligns with the Boston premiere in 1857 and further solidifies that date as the song’s point of origin, not 1850 in Medford.
The Evolution into a Christmas Standard
Despite its minstrel show beginnings, “Jingle Bells song” gradually transitioned into a beloved Christmas carol. It wasn’t an immediate holiday hit. Initially, it gained traction in local choirs during the 1860s and 1870s and appeared in parlor-song and college anthologies in the 1880s. The first recording of “Jingle Bells” was in 1898 by the Edison Male Quartette on a phonograph cylinder. It was in the early 20th century that “Jingle Bells song” truly solidified its place as a Christmas favorite, often associated with idyllic Currier & Ives winter scenes.
The Enduring Medford Myth
The claim that “Jingle Bells song” was written in Medford didn’t surface until a 1946 Boston Globe article. Hamill suggests this Medford origin story is a 20th-century invention, a common phenomenon in local history where myths are created and perpetuated over time. Despite the debunking research, the plaque in Medford remains, and the town continues its annual Jingle Bell Walk/Run. Local history, deeply intertwined with community identity, can be resistant to factual revisions, even when confronted with compelling evidence.
While the romantic image of “Jingle Bells song” being composed in a Medford tavern in 1850 may be appealing, historical evidence points to a different reality. The song’s journey, from its minstrel show debut as “One Horse Open Sleigh” in Boston to its evolution into a global Christmas anthem, is a fascinating example of how cultural artifacts can transform and take on new meanings over time. The true history of “Jingle Bells song” is a testament to the power of research to uncover surprising truths behind even the most familiar and cherished traditions.
