Green’s Dictionary of Slang

bells! excl.

[abbr. hell’s bells! under hell n.]

(orig. US black) a general excl. of alarm, anger, surprise.

1929
193019401950196019701980
1989
[US]S. Ornitz Haunch Paunch and Jowl 115: Al is thundering, ‘Bells, bells, bells! G’wan, try it again.’.
[US]New Yorker 3 July 28: The bebop people have a language of their own [...] their expressions of approval include ‘Cool!’, ‘Gone!’ and ‘Bells, man!’.
[US]Down Beat 30 Apr. 11: This was revelatory for Pres, who usually limited his answers to ‘bells’ or ‘ding dong’.
[US] P. Munro Sl. U.