Leon Jessel first published his solo piano piece entitled The Parade of the Tin Soldiers in 1897 whilst he was an itinerant Kapellmeister working in German theatres, but in 1905 he orchestrated the piece as his Op. 123 and it was sold by Heinrichshofen of Magdeburg in 20 different instrumental versions. It soon achieved popularity, was first recorded in 1910 and was distributed internationally the following year. In 1912, the Russian impresario Nikita Balieff (1877–1936) was preparing a new vaudeville revue for performance in Paris with the title La Chauve-Souris (‘The Bat’), for which he chose Jessel’s jaunty piece. It was Balieff who changed the title of the piece to The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers for his performances in the USA, where it is still best-known by this title. In France the soldiers changed their material to wood or lead and the title was La parade des soldats de bois or La parade des soldats de plomb. Balieff’s vaudeville troupe made their first tour of the USA in 1922 and ‘The Bat’ opened on Broadway in New York in 1922. Three instrumental versions were recorded over the next year and became hit records in the USA. Words were added in 1922 by Ballard MacDonald (1882–1935), an American lyricist associated with ‘Tin Pan Alley’, and this became a popular song for children at Christmas. The Baleiff troupe also made a film of their dance routine with sound in 1923, one of the earliest uses of sound in film, and the main theme was subsequently used in many films, radio and television programmes.