Homecoming Mum

[mamacatnv]

Anyone else in the throws of planning out the Homecoming Mum?

I am new to TX, my DD is a Freshman and while I certainly do not understand this whole Mum thing, I am working with a lady to create a masterpiece.

DD is a huge Dr. Who and Harry Potter fan so that is my theme for her Mum. I can't discuss on Facebook since I want her to be surprised.

Anyone else working on this very strange tradition for Homecoming?

 

[Gina]

The mum thing is definitely huge... but as a native Texan and avid high school football fan (and mom to a Senior), I can honestly say I've never heard of or seen a mum themed to anything other than the school/team colors, and related extra-curricular stuff (band, cheerleading.) I wonder if that's a regional thing??

 

[mamacatnv]

The mum thing is definitely huge... but as a native Texan and avid high school football fan (and mom to a Senior), I can honestly say I've never heard of or seen a mum themed to anything other than the school/team colors, and related extra-curricular stuff (band, cheerleading.) I wonder if that's a regional thing??

Oh its school colors etc has all the braids, homecoming streamer & assorted school ribbon, but its being slightly personalized with a few trinkets that are not footballs or cheerleaders. Mum lady said its pretty common to see mementos, pictures and other things that make it individual.

 

[disneyfreakk]

Maybe its different than when I was in high school, but our date to the homecoming game always bought our mums. And the girls would buy the guys garters. (Kind of like the mums, but smaller and worn on the sleeve using a garter.)

 

[Gina]

Maybe its different than when I was in high school, but our date to the homecoming game always bought our mums. And the girls would buy the guys garters. (Kind of like the mums, but smaller and worn on the sleeve using a garter.)

Oh definitely!! A girl would never get her own mum... Girls get garters for guys about 50% of the time around here, but the guys always always get the mums for their girlfriend/date.

 

[AustinTink]

Found out yesterday that our student council is making and selling mums at our school. That should make things much easier.

 

[mamacatnv]

Last year, DD was about the only girl in 8th grade with no mum. We had just moved here and had no clue. I don't think all those 8th grade girls had boyfriends who bought them Mums.

From what I have been able to find by talking with other parents and a few Mum makers, parents will often provide the mums in the absence of a boy providing one.

It seems to me as an outsider that a lot of the "traditions" have been overruled by good old fashion marketing

 

[Buckalew11]

And God knows one could not wear two of those things! (please tell me I'm right! lol)

That is one strange tradition and one has to wonder how it caught on, haha!

Good luck making it!

 

[JusbKoz]

The parents or boyfriends can buy the mums for the girls around here. The garter for the boys are only given by the girlfriends/ date to homecoming. My daughters date said he didn't want a mum garter and my daughter wanted to make her own mum. So yes I am running around town to get the specific ribbons and items she wants on her mum. This is our first year to make a mum.
I talked to the mum maker for our local hobby lobby and michaels and they both told me that the smartest thing to do is just reuse the ribbons from one year to the next and just change the mum base and add or take away certain items.
Also, the character themed mums are popular this year like the Harry porter that the pp mentioned. I saw super man and spider man boy arm garters.
I also heard some moms/ little sisters can wear smaller mums to the games but I think I will sit out this year.

 

[kimblebee]

I hate the word tacky because it's way overused and most times people should use the word different instead. HOWEVER, if I was ever going to use it to describe something..this would be the time.

 

[Piper]

Back in the dark ages (when I was in high school in Texas) the mums were real and always ordered from the florist. Girls also received them for every game. They averaged $1.50-$3.00 for a really nice one. They had single and double (2 mums) and were very pretty. They were in school colors and usually had a small cow bell on them. They also had the girl's name and that of the boy who gave it to her. Girls had to stuff tissue in the bell so it didn't make noise in class. The florists delivered them to school and you were called to the office to pick them up. That was one time most girls looked forward to being called to the office!

 

[mamacatnv]

I hate the word tacky because it's way overused and most times people should use the word different instead. HOWEVER, if I was ever going to use it to describe something..this would be the time.

I wouldn't say tacky as tacky to me infers improper with no taste, however, that said, the word hideous came to mind the first time I laid eyes on a mum last year

Back in the dark ages (when I was in high school in Texas) the mums were real and always ordered from the florist. Girls also received them for every game. They averaged $1.50-$3.00 for a really nice one. They had single and double (2 mums) and were very pretty. They were in school colors and usually had a small cow bell on them. They also had the girl's name and that of the boy who gave it to her. Girls had to stuff tissue in the bell so it didn't make noise in class. The florists delivered them to school and you were called to the office to pick them up. That was one time most girls looked forward to being called to the office!

The whole extravaganza reminds me of a typical someone had to outdo someone else and over time the mum has evolved into a paper plate that pukes miles and miles of ribbon all over a young girls chest. Completely harmless (unless one considers the neck/shoulder pain from wearing the dang thing all day) but wow, certainly an interesting evolution from what I would say was a nice corsage back in the day!

The lady I am getting to make mine (I figure actually cheaper in the long run) was telling me about some of the recent trends including feather boas, battery operated lights and stuffed cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty

 

[NotUrsula]

As to the Texas Mum being tacky, I'm not sure. I kind of think it goes so far into tackiness that it somehow transcends it and migrates into the realm of the surreal. They are just SO strange ...

This blog entry from the Houston Press is pretty funny: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/10/football_mums_texas.php

I've got to admit it; I'm grateful as can be that around here a homecoming mum is still just a flower corsage with a little football charm attached to it.

(The real ones were popular at my school back in the dark ages as well; but I never had one. I was in band and had to perform at the game, and the rule for us was that the only corsages allowed were wrist corsages. As the school's color was orange, we always had marigolds on those instead of mums, because the petals on mums fall off too easily.)

 

[ckmommy]

I did not grow up in Texas. We moved here 11 years ago. My kids are now old enough for "Mums." This whole mum thing is new to me--as of a few years ago when my daughter showed them to me. My DD is a freshman this year. All that has been talked about between she and her friends (plus all over FB) is Homecoming--who asked who to go with them, how the question was asked, blah, blah, blah. To me it is over the top.

The mum thing is over the top too. Seriously, these things are over $100 to make!!! As I have been informed that the Mums have to be huge!!
I am really not looking forward to when I have 4 boys in high school at the same time

 

[penn19]

I hate the word tacky because it's way overused and most times people should use the word different instead. HOWEVER, if I was ever going to use it to describe something..this would be the time.

Dear God yes. I have lived in Texas for awhile and I think they are the most God awful looking things. Tacky is absolutely the correct word.

 

[KristaTX]

I went into Kroger a few years ago and came across these mums. Of course I had to take a picture, and I think I posted it on the DIS at the time. You should be able to tell why:

 

[KathyTX]

It's a Texas thing, y'all.

 

[Ladcassidy]

It's a Texas thing, y'all.

Growing up in South Texas, we loved our mums. We also had spirit ribbons for each game that cheered our team to beat the other side. We all signed each others ribbons each week. Then we attached them to flowers and wore them as mums, or wore them alone. When I got married, my best friend dug out an old spirit ribbon, signed by my classmates, and I pinned it under my wedding dress as "something borrowed."

 

[powellrj]

I went into Kroger a few years ago and came across these mums. Of course I had to take a picture, and I think I posted it on the DIS at the time. You should be able to tell why:

OMG! I had heard of them and thought I knew what they looked like, I had no idea! My DDs school is so small they don't have a football team, so football isn't a big thing at her school! I remember her principal saying that if every boy who attended the school would go out for football, they still wouldn't have enough boys to have a team! I will just live through you guys!

 

[EMom]

OMG! I had heard of them and thought I knew what they looked like, I had no idea! My DDs school is so small they don't have a football team, so football isn't a big thing at her school! I remember her principal saying that if every boy who attended the school would go out for football, they still wouldn't have enough boys to have a team! I will just live through you guys!

Oh honey, those aren't even the showy ones. Those are the subdued mums.

I do like the Hidden Mickey in them, though.