The custom of attaching bells to sleighs was first started by a Dutch button maker Hans Jengelen. He searched for the way to speed up the transport of the stocks of buttons and eventually he came up with an idea of tying the jingle bells to the sleighs. This technique would alert the crowd and the road for the horses to carry sleighs get cleared. Since then, jingle bells are often used by people to alarm each other about the coming of a guest.