'Jingle Bells'

The popular Christmas carol “Jingle Bells” has an interesting history that remains a topic of debate even now.

Written by New England native James Lord Pierpont, “Jingle Bells” was never intended to be a Christmas song, and in fact does not even mention Christmas or any other holiday. In addition, the song’s birthplace is disputed, so much so that there are two commemorative plaques in two different cities, each of which claims to be the place where Pierpont purportedly wrote the song in the 1850s.

One plaque is in Medford, Massachusetts, where Pierpont is said to have written the song from a...