‘Jingle Bells' was originally written as a Thanksgiving song. Here's a look at the holiday classic's mysterious history
One of the world’s most recognizable Christmas songs may not be a Christmas song at all.
Even if the 19th-century tune "Jingle Bells" makes you want to ride in a horse-drawn sleigh and run in the snow, it was never meant to be a Christmas song.
In fact, the lyrics make no reference to the December holiday at all.
According to historians, the song may have been played during a Thanksgiving church service when it was originally composed in 1850 by James Lord Pierpont, the financier J.P. Morgan's uncle.
About five miles outside of Boston, in the hamlet of Medford, Massachusetts, sleigh races are thought to have served as the inspiration for the song.
About a thousand miles away from Medford, in another town, the people claim their city is where the holiday jingle originated.