Which early versions of Jingle Bells contain racist or minstrel-era lyrics?
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Executive summary
Scholarly research and multiple news outlets show that the song we now call “Jingle Bells” began life as “The One Horse Open Sleigh” and was performed on the minstrel stage in the mid-19th century — notably at Ordway’s minstrel theatre in Boston in 1857, where it was sung in blackface by a minstrel performer [1] [2]. Academic work (Kyna Hamill and others) and theatre-historical surveys document minstrel-era performances and adaptations of sleigh-themed songs; surviving early sheet music and playbills link Pierpont’s tune to minstrel companies, though Pierpont’s printed lyrics themselves do not include explicit racist dialect [2] [3].
1. What the record actually shows: minstrel performance, not necessarily racist printed lyrics
Primary evidence cited by scholars is a playbill and contemporary performance records showing “One Horse Open Sleigh” was performed at Ordway Hall, a minstrel venue, in 1857 by a known minstrel singer (Johnny Pell), and that the tune circulated on the minstrel stage in the 1850s [1] [2]. Theatre historians show sleigh-number variants like “Jingle, Jingle—Clear de Way” on playbills of the period, demonstrating that the sleigh-song trope was part of blackface entertainments [3]. At the same time, Pierpont’s printed 1857/1859 sheet music for the song does not itself contain overt racial dialect; many scholars note the composer’s published lyrics center on sleigh-riding, flirting and merriment rather than explicit caricature [2] [4].
2. How scholars connect the song to minstrelsy — and where they stop
Researchers such as Kyna Hamill and other theatre historians argue the song’s earliest public circulation and its staging in blackface mean its history is entangled with minstrelsy: the song was embedded in a theatrical culture that trafficked in racist caricature, and that context shaped how audiences first encountered it [2] [1]. Hamill’s work stresses that the blackface and minstrel origins have often been “subtly and systematically removed” from popular narratives about the carol [5] [2]. But those same researchers caution against overstating what the printed lyrics prove: Pierpont’s text lacks explicit minstrel dialect, and scholarship typically distinguishes provenance and performance context from the textual content of the surviving song [2] [4].
3. Claims about specific ‘racist’ lyrics — what sources say and don’t say
Recent social-media claims tie phrases like “laughing all the way” to minstrel-era comedic routines such as the “Laughing Darkie.” That linkage appears in popular reporting and influencer videos referencing Hamill’s paper, but the academic sources cited in coverage document performance context rather than a known alternate minstrel-text of Pierpont’s song that includes explicitly racist lines [6] [7]. In short: scholarship documents minstrel performance of the tune; available sources do not show an original printed version of Pierpont’s lyrics written in overt dialect mocking Black people [2] [4].
4. Why this matters today — context, reactions, and politicization
Journalistic coverage shows the discovery has been weaponized into opposing narratives: some outlets and social-media posts present the finding as evidence the song was written to “mock Black people,” while others argue that the tune’s modern form is harmless and divorced from that past [8] [9]. Hamill herself has complained that media coverage distorted her academic intent — she reported a historical performance context, not a campaign to “ban” the carol [10]. Reporting also records real-world consequences: school music programs and communities have debated whether to teach or perform the song after learning about the minstrel connection [11].
5. What we can say with confidence — and what remains uncertain
We can say with confidence that the song now called “Jingle Bells” circulated on the minstrel stage in the 1850s and was performed in blackface [1] [2]. We cannot find in the provided sources a contemporaneous Pierpont-printed lyric or an authenticated early variant that reads like a minstrel dialect parody of Black people — scholars emphasize the performance setting rather than a racist printed text [2] [4]. Assertions that Pierpont wrote the song explicitly “to make fun of Black people” reflect an interpretive judgment grounded in context and audience reception history, not a single surviving racist lyric cited in the sources [6] [4].
Limitations and competing views: the academic literature cited by news outlets links the tune to minstrelsy but also stresses that the song’s present-day lyrics are not overtly racist and that reporting has sometimes exaggerated the claim; conservative and partisan outlets have framed Hamill’s findings as an attack on Christmas traditions [10] [9]. Readers weighing the question should separate the documented minstrel performance history (established in theatre scholarship) from stronger claims about specific racist words authored by Pierpont, which the available sources do not document [2] [4].