The Origins of Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

On Friday, March 14, in the Cafe at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, my father’s surgeon came to our table and gave us a report on the operation. We have great confidence in that doctor.

After discussing the report we had received, my older brother and I again turned our attention to fine music from our youth, and I discovered this article by Rob Weir.

Excerpt: I’ve been reading Games and Songs of American Children by William Wells Newell, a Dover reprint of the 1903 edition. I find it fascinating how games are transmitted from generation to generation, games like “Tag”, “Button button who has the button?”, “The church and the steeple” or “Odd or even?” These games are not learned from teachers in a school, or read in a book, or typically even taught from parents. For the most part they are transmitted from child to child, from an older sibling, or a peer, through the most casual pathways. Games like this have spread across the country and beyond without any overt effort. In a way, it is like language.

So, that made me think about the “classic” children’s Christmas parody of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells”. I assume there is no part of this country where these words are not known to every child. But it exists in no songbook.

The Origins of Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.