December 12 National Ding-a-Ling Day #NationalDingALingDay which allows us to celebrate one of those uniquely American inventions. It’s sort of a two-fer holiday where you touch base (preferably by phone — hence the playful reference to “ding-a-ling”) with friends or family you may have lost track of during the year.
Not only that you also get a free pass to be just a little bit weird for the day. Come and celebrate National Ding-A-Ling Day with my family which always takes place on December 12 but you can think of National Ding-a-Ling Day as a second Halloween!
National Ding-A-Ling Day Activities
- On National Ding-A-Ling Day is tailor-made for music and you should think of all the songs you know with ding-a-ling in the title. Including Chuck Berry’s only number one Billboard hit, the 1972 version of “My Ding-a-Ling.” Supposedly, this refers to a toy with “silver bells hanging on a string” but you decide.
- Also, listen to Pop sensation Bobby Rydell who had a song called “Ding-a-Ling,” released in 1960. Last but not least, check out ska musician Judge Dread with his Island-y version of “My Ding-a-Ling.”
- If you have the means and the opportunity let the sound of bells lure you over to the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle for a donation to help those less fortunate. After all, this is the holiday season and it’s time to open your heart and your purse for a good cause.
- Texting is a thing we do now but why not buck that trend for just one day and pick up an actual phone to call someone? All jokes aside, National Ding-A-Ling Day was created not only as a day to remember our loved ones but also to keep people from feeling isolated. Plus, hearing someone’s voice on the phone is a warmer, deeper connection than just texting.
Ring-a-Ding-Ding Facts About Bells
- In Egyptian antiquity, bells were flat and hit with a metal gong during worship of the God Osiris.
- Hindu and Buddhist religions used bells to signal worshippers to service.
- Saint Bede started the practice of ringing bells for funerals in England.
- The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower (University of Birmingham in England) is the tallest stand-alone tower in the world at a height of 360 feet.
- The Tsar Bell in Moscow ranks as the largest bell in the world, weighing a whopping 400,000 pounds.
Why People Love National Ding-a-Ling Day
- Legend has it that the idea for National Ding-A-Ling Day evolved during a group conversation about people being friendlier and staying connected with loved ones. Somehow the term “ding-a-ling” came up defined as “one who hears bells in his head.” Soon, millions of people were touching base on December 12th (or “ding-a-linging” because iPhones weren’t invented yet) with contacts they hadn’t spoken to throughout the year.
- Sometimes people show a more bizarre side of themselves on National Ding-A-Ling Day (as if some folks actually need a day to be crazy.) Ding-A-Lings (absolutely not the same as “dingbats”) may be wearing some kind of weird headgear or walking backwards. You get the idea: National Ding-A-Ling Day is your time to be “special” for just one day.
- National Ding-A-Ling Day is synonymous with the sound of bells. It could be the classic “old phone” sound on your cell, or it could be the sound of an incoming text or, crazier still, a ding-a-ling could be the actual sound of a bell. The main idea is that bells alert us and remind us to do something important. This year, make that something be an actual phone call to someone you haven’t spoken to for a long time.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
