Initially, this worked because the rocks were very heavy and pinned the creatures to the ground neck-first. Who started the custom of putting bells on sleighs? Searching for a practical way to speed the transport of buttons to market during winter, Jengelen hit upon the idea of attaching noisemakers to the official German Button-sleds, or Knopfschlittern , so other conveyances would hear them approaching and clear the roadway.
Jengelen first proposed using caged parrots for this purpose, until the difficulty of keeping tropical birds alive during an Alpine winter was pointed out to him. What are some of the more charming traditions and superstitions associated with jingle bells? The sound of jingle bells is traditionally believed to ward off bad luck and evil spirits.
Depending on the remoteness of the region and the level of inbreeding among the populace, jingle bells may also be credited with attracting meteorites, curing wooden tongue, and preventing turnip blight. In some areas of France, such bells are believed to cause the tails of otters to grow. In Portugal, they are thought to promote fertility in poultry of all kinds. Westfalians believe that by ringing sleighbells, one communicates directly with St.
Philologus of Sinope. And what of the more dark and cryptic elements of jingle bell history? Hill had developed a process of stamping sleigh bells out of sheet metal While casting bells, two skilled workmen could make about bells in one day.
Only 11 years later, an industrial census reported the annual total of sleigh bells made in town jumped to ', dozen,' almost three million bells Hill Brass Co. East Hampton manufacturers, while prolific, were not the only ones making bells in the U. By the late s, bell foundries throughout the East and Midwest produced a dizzying variety of sleigh bells and many different ways to put sleigh bells on horses and their vehicles.
Almost all U. As the horse rapidly disappeared as the major means of transportation, the sleigh bell industry declined as well. A small handful survived through the s, but only the Bevin Bros.
Photographs and newspapers document the dramatic transition from horse to automobile transportation and the accompanying disappearance of sleigh bells from daily life:. From the mid s to the early s, high stepping trotters, fast cutters, and musical sleigh bells were often mentioned in the New York Times newspaper.
In a photograph, the main street in Lansing, Iowa, was full of horse-drawn vehicles and a few automobiles. The same street photographed in was completely lined with cars, with a lone horse-drawn cart to emphasize the transformation.
By , the Wisconsin State Tourist Society had to search far and wide for a set of sleigh bells to use for its Christmas party. Horse bells are now used for home decoration and to set a festive tone for a pleasure ride in a horse-drawn sleigh, carriage or wagon. From an early age, James Lord Pierpont sought adventures far away from his family in Boston.
At the age of 14, he ran off from boarding school, joined the crew of a whaling ship and spent nearly a decade at sea. When the California Gold Rush struck in , Pierpont left his wife and children behind in Massachusetts while he chased riches in the West.
Returning home several years later no wealthier than when he left, Pierpont departed from his family again in to become the organist at a Unitarian church in Savannah, Georgia, that was pastored by his brother. Credit: Library of Congress. While his father and brother took fiery stands against slavery, Pierpont became a staunch supporter of the Confederacy. When his brother was forced to close his church and return to the North in due to his abolitionist preaching, Pierpont remained in Savannah.
When war broke out, he enlisted with the 1st Georgia Cavalry and served as a company clerk. Less common shapes include the bevel or band bell with a slightly pointed face; square bells look impressive but are said to sound absolutely terrible and are also quite fragile. Other specialty custom bell shapes include acorns or flower buds. Traditional and authentic bells, with an open mouth and a clapper, were used on occasion and are still found on European working harnesses with one bell suspended between the hames.
Most of these multiple-throat bells were stamped rather than cast, allowing for new and unusual shapes. An exception to these rules is the Swedish bell, typically a very large bell up to two or three inches in diameter.
Their hefty size gives the Swedish bells a deep and loud tone. As styles changed and stamped bells became vogue, bells were left undecorated and were polished to a shine. Individual specialty antique bells can still be found with fish-scale or ornate petal designs, but these are much less common. Construction: As mentioned above, harness bells were originally cast in brass.
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