Texas high School Football in underway and that means the big homecoming game can't be far off! Oddly enough, the biggest fashion statement of the week is not the homecoming dress but the homecoming mum. If you're not from Texas you may not know what a homecoming mum even looks like, the mums seem to be popular only in Texas and Southern Oklahoma. In the 1920's chrysanthemums became the popular choice for corsages that boyfriends brought to their girlfriends when attending the big game. Soon the florists began tying little ribbons in the school colors on them. In the 1960's it became popular to add more ribbons and trinkets representing the school activities of the girls and their boyfriends. Throughout the 60's and 70's the mums began to grow to TEXAS size proportions and today the ribbons can hang 3-5 feet off the corsage and weigh up to 12 lbs.
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| My niece's mum |
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| Some detail |
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| Lil Sis Mum |
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| Senior Queen Mum |
It's not unusual to see the mums adorned with stuffed bears, feather boas and even lights. Now everyone gives and receives mums. Mums are presented by best friends, siblings, aunts, boyfriends, sports teammates, boyfriends, girlfriends and parents. Every mum is unique and every mum is different. I remember my first mum in the 1980's. It was given to me by my brother my junior year in High School. In those days we used real flowers but, alas, after a few weeks the dried mum petals would fall to the floor and all that was left was droopy ribbons. Sometime between my mums and my daughter's mums, faux mums became vogue, mostly so that the huge corsages could adorn high school girl's rooms throughout their four years of high school. When my daughter was a freshman I learned her number one homecoming rule. NO COWBELLS! Cowbells are a favorite trinket to hang off mums in Texas. The distinct tinkling of the cowbells while Ally walked down school hallways, however, seemed too much for my conservative Texas girl and the bells were scotch taped quiet by second period. That afternoon I found the offensive cowbell hanging from the hall linen closet doorknob as a warning to other cowbells that may try to make their way onto her mums throughout her HS years. It is still tied there today. I love making the mums and Ally's dates are always happy to hear that I have the mum situation under control. This year's mum was a bit of a challenge. A senior mum is different than a regular mum. A senior mum has to be white and gold or white and silver. It should never have the school colors in it, only white and gold/silver. Since our school colors are purple and gold, our secondary color needed to be gold. Not as easy to work with than the purple and gold from previous years. Ally's date is not a senior, which means his had to be purple and gold. I still threw in some white so they would match better. BTW, I always use the scraps to make Catherine a Lil Sis mum, everyone needs a mum! If your state isn't doing mums, it might be a good year to show off your special kid, there is only one homecoming queen and one homecoming king, but everyone can feel special when they are wearing a Texas Homecoming Mum!!
It's not unusual to see the mums adorned with stuffed bears, feather boas and even lights. Now everyone gives and receives mums. Mums are presented by best friends, siblings, aunts, boyfriends, sports teammates, boyfriends, girlfriends and parents. Every mum is unique and every mum is different. I remember my first mum in the 1980's. It was given to me by my brother my junior year in High School. In those days we used real flowers but, alas, after a few weeks the dried mum petals would fall to the floor and all that was left was droopy ribbons. Sometime between my mums and my daughter's mums, faux mums became vogue, mostly so that the huge corsages could adorn high school girl's rooms throughout their four years of high school. When my daughter was a freshman I learned her number one homecoming rule. NO COWBELLS! Cowbells are a favorite trinket to hang off mums in Texas. The distinct tinkling of the cowbells while Ally walked down school hallways, however, seemed too much for my conservative Texas girl and the bells were scotch taped quiet by second period. That afternoon I found the offensive cowbell hanging from the hall linen closet doorknob as a warning to other cowbells that may try to make their way onto her mums throughout her HS years. It is still tied there today. I love making the mums and Ally's dates are always happy to hear that I have the mum situation under control. This year's mum was a bit of a challenge. A senior mum is different than a regular mum. A senior mum has to be white and gold or white and silver. It should never have the school colors in it, only white and gold/silver. Since our school colors are purple and gold, our secondary color needed to be gold. Not as easy to work with than the purple and gold from previous years. Ally's date is not a senior, which means his had to be purple and gold. I still threw in some white so they would match better. BTW, I always use the scraps to make Catherine a Lil Sis mum, everyone needs a mum! If your state isn't doing mums, it might be a good year to show off your special kid, there is only one homecoming queen and one homecoming king, but everyone can feel special when they are wearing a Texas Homecoming Mum!!
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