RING THEM BELLS:

It's difficult for 21st-century minds to imagine now, but a heavy snowfall often brought a treat to 19th-century folks. Consider these lines from a letter written in February 1865 by a Union soldier to his girlfriend in Upstate New York. "I presume you did not fail to take advantage of the deep snow. I imagine I see you on a cold pleasant moonlit night gliding over the crystal surface preceded by nettlesome steeds and the pleasant ringing of musical bells which seem to mock the joyous laughter of you and your companions."

After enjoying one such sleigh ride, James Lord Pierpont recognized a song was waiting to be written.

He was an interesting character. Son of a New England minister, he ran away to sea at age 14, later returned, married, and started a family. He settled in Medford, Massachusetts where his father pastored a Unitarian Church. The urge to wander returned with the 1849 California Gold Rush. Pierpont wound up in San Francisco where had a store and a photography studio before losing both in a fire. He returned to New England flat broke.

After his wife died in 1856, Pierpont's brother accepted the pastorate of a Unitarian Church in Savannah, Georgia. Pierpont tagged along to serve as music minister. He wrote songs and gave organ and singing lessons on the side, all the while composing a steady stream of music himself. He became successful enough to take the daughter of Savannah's mayor as his second wife.

In 1857 he released the song we still sing today. But "One Horse Open Sleigh" bombed so badly when it came out that he had to rebrand it. It was re-released in 1859 as "Jingle Bells." Even then it was far from a best-seller.

Ironically alcohol, not schoolkids, spread the tune. "Jingle Bells" became a popular mid-Victorian drinking song with singers clinking their glasses to imitate the sound of bells. And get this-the lyrics were even considered racy for the time, too. A young couple sleigh riding without a chaperon? Hubba-hubba! Risqué stuff.

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