In fact, the true significance of bells at Christmas comes from the bells that used to call villagers and townsfolk to church back in the days when people didn't wear watches or carry cell phones to keep time or watch the calendar. The ringing of a Christmas bell is a call to worship.

Longfellow wrote the poem on Christmas Day in 1863. "Christmas Bells" was first published in February 1865, in Our Young Folks, a juvenile magazine published by Ticknor and Fields. References to the Civil War are prevalent in some of the verses that are not commonly sung.

A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers.