Sleigh Bells in Delaware’s Winter Past

Above: This drawing from a 1915 ‘Middletown Transcript’ newspaper article reminds us that sleighs were once garaged the same way we garage our modern cars.

Delawareans had been using sleigh bells for well over a century by the time the Victorians introduced us to “Jingle Bells” (1857) and Currier & Ives prints of rosy-cheeked couples zipping along in stylish cutters. These images of carefree rides to grandmother’s house evoke a nostalgic Christmas spirit, but they don’t tell the whole story. 

“From early morning until late at night the town has resounded with the music of sleigh bells, and the gaudy, dashing turnouts have been continually dashing through the streets at the most breakneck speed,” reported the Smyrna Times in February 1858. “Notwithstanding the furious, and, in many cases, reckless driving, there have been but few upsets and no serious accidents.” 

On heavy snow days in 19th century towns, wheeled vehicles were useless, and sleighs became essential for getting around, leading to crowded streets. With sleigh drivers moving at high speeds from multiple directions, a way to signal other drivers was necessary to avoid collisions. Add to that the fact that drivers were bundled up in layers with earmuffs and scarves, and the signaling device had to be loud. Sleigh bells, then, were the 19th century equivalent of a car horn. 

“The first farm bells, from about 1700, were forged cowbell types,” says Eric Sloane in “The Seasons of America Past.” “Sleigh bells started as folded metal in about 1750,” he explains, “but the popular American sleigh bell evolved in about 1800. Sleigh bells were made by the barrel and sold by the pound in East Hampton, CT (‘Jingletown,’ the sleighbell capital of America). Here America’s first globe-type sleigh bells were made, and were distributed throughout the world.” 

By the last several decades of the 19th century, Delaware’s winter newspapers were filled with merchant ads for sleigh bells from Swiss Pole Chimes, King Henry Bells, and Mikado Chimes. Wilmington’s Wm. H. Billany & Co., “importers and dealers in fancy and building hardware,” offered the popular Dexter Body Strap of 24 bells. James & Bro. on Market St in that same city regularly pronounced themselves ‘Headquarters for skates, tool chests, and sleigh bells.’ G.E Hukells in Middletown insisted their sleigh bell selection, sized from ⅞” to 3-¼”, featured ‘superior quality, lowest prices!!’. 

Nor were sleigh bells only purchased commercially. They might sometimes be bartered as well, as part of a full rig. “BB Allen has bought George Thompson’s half interest in his peach crop at Sunnyside in Kent County,” reported the Morning News [Wilmington] in January 1881, “for a horse and sleigh with bells and harness.” 

Sleighs, like automobiles today, were used by all classes. “The sleighing in the vicinity of Delaware City was never finer than during the past two weeks,” said the Delaware Tribune on February 13, 1868. “As this neighborhood is celebrated for its fine and fast horses, as well as its men of wealth and leisure, the jingle of sleigh bells is constantly heard, while the enjoyment of the belles within the sleighs is almost unbounded.” 

The use of sleighs with bells continued well into the 20th century. There are Delawareans alive today who fondly remember grandparents using them. But when Alfred I. Dupont purchased the first automobile in Delaware in 1907, the die was cast. Winter transport was pointed in a completely different direction. 

Yet, even as automobiles began to replace horse-drawn sleighs, the charm and nostalgia of sleigh rides persisted in Delaware’s collective memory.  

“As the runners slid over snow, ice and an occasional stone or a bare spot with dirt, they would carry on a sustained monologue continually changing,” recalled Paul Engle in a 1960 Morning News article titled ‘Old Fashioned Christmas.’ 

“They would whisper gently over snow, mutter angrily over ice, squeak over gravel, cry in rage over an exposed rock, then go back to the long rhythm of the glide over hard-packed snow. That was dramatic travel, just as the horses, alive and individual, each with its own humanlike characteristics, were a more exciting source of motive power than a mechanical engine with its stink and noise.” 

As late as World War II, when gasoline shortages posed challenges to modern transportation, some Delawareans found themselves rediscovering the magic of the one-horse open sleigh. 

In December 1942, The News Journal reported on a heartwarming scene in the towns around the Delaware capes: 

“A real ‘postcard’ white winter scene replete with snow-capped fir trees, ice-skaters, and snow-lined streets, tuned to tinkling sleigh bells on horse-drawn sleighs, is thrilling residents of the towns around the Delaware capes. The sound of sleigh bells over the snow at Rehoboth Beach is a signal for children to flock to the windows to see a typical old-fashioned vehicle of the gay nineties gliding along.” 

This revival of sleigh use wasn’t just for show. William S. McQuay, a Rehoboth merchant, ingeniously adapted to the gasoline shortage by using a horse-drawn sleigh to deliver groceries and meats to his customers. In the evenings, he transformed his practical conveyance into a source of glee, “piling his sleigh high with young people for moonlight joyrides.” 

McQuay’s sleigh held a special place in local history. Once owned by Dr. David Hall, a country doctor from turn of the century Lewes, it had been stored away for years before McQuay purchased it. “The physician always used the sleigh, olders [sic] say, to make his rounds to patients,” the News Journal noted. 

In these moments of renewed appreciation for sleighs and their bells, Delawareans found themselves reconnecting with a cherished part of their heritage. The tinkling of sleigh bells, once a common sound of winter, had become a nostalgic reminder of simpler times. While the era of sleighs as primary transportation had passed, the magic of a sleigh ride – the crisp winter air, the sound of bells, and the sense of community – continued to captivate the imagination of Delawareans, young and old alike.