The familiar jingle of “Silver Bells” might have sounded a lot different if not for a humorous naming mishap during the 1951 film “The Lemon Drop Kid”.
## The Song’s Origins
“Silver Bells” was written by the songwriting duo Joe Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 movie “The Lemon Drop Kid”. In the film, Bob Hope plays a con artist who dresses as a sidewalk Santa, complete with bells, to swindle passersby.
During the con, Hope’s character stops to sing the sentimental tune, physically ringing the bells referenced in the song’s title.
## The Naming Dilemma
Before presenting the final song to Paramount Pictures, Livingston and Evans experimented with another version called “Tinkle Bell” or “Tinkle Bells”. The word “tinkle” can mean a light ringing sound, but it also has a more urological interpretation.
The night after a writing session, Livingston mentioned the song to his wife, who reacted with disbelief. “Are you out of your mind? Do you know what ‘tinkle’ means to most people?” Livingston’s wife said, as recounted in the 2006 book “America’s Songs” by music historians Philip Furia and Michael Lasser.
## The Final Decision
In a late-80s interview with American Songwriter columnist Paul Zollo, Evans said Livingston’s wife had to explain the word’s “toilet meaning” to her husband. “We never thought ‘tinkle’ had a double meaning until Jay went home,” Evans said, according to Furia and Lasser.
The issue was resolved by swapping “silver” for “tinkle”, and the Christmas classic was born.
## Legacy in Film and Radio
In “The Lemon Drop Kid”, Hope’s character Sidney (or “Kid”) begins singing the song to drum up donations for his crew of sidewalk Santas, all while intending to keep the money to pay off a debt to a gangster.
The radio versions omit the unofficial opening lyrics sung in the film by one of Sidney’s grifter buddies (a pre-“I Love Lucy” William Frawley) while he shouts at holiday shoppers: “Silver bells, silver bells/Let’s put some dough in the kitty/Chunk it in, chunk it in/Or Sandy will give you a Mickey.”
## Key Takeaways
– The song was originally titled “Tinkle Bells” before the name was changed.
– The change was prompted by a misunderstanding of the word “tinkle”.
– The final version became the beloved holiday classic “Silver Bells.”
The story behind “Silver Bells” reveals a playful moment in music history that shaped one of the season’s most enduring tunes.
