It’s nearly homecoming season, and if you live in Texas, you already know what that means: the mums are back. Not the kind you buy at Home Depot for your porch — these are the sparkling, ribbon-covered, cowbell-clanging, borderline-engineering-project accessories that high schoolers proudly strap on for one unforgettable Friday night.
So… What Exactly Is A Mum?
A mum started as a sweet little chrysanthemum corsage, a modest flower a boy would give his date for homecoming. But, this being Texas, “modest” didn’t last. By the 1970s, mums had ballooned into wearable works of art. Today, they can include enough ribbon to lasso a longhorn and enough glitter to keep craft store aisles in business for months.
Tradition says girls wear the mum (around the neck or pinned on), while guys sport a smaller garter version on their arm. The exchange happens the night before homecoming week, a ritual as time-honored as pep rallies and awkward slow dances.
The Bigger, The Better
The unofficial motto of Texas mums? Go big or go home. Some students order triple-button mums shaped like hearts. Others deck them out with stuffed animals, flashing lights or cowbells loud enough to double as halftime percussion. Eighteen-foot mum? No problem.
Show up without a mum. Practically unthinkable. In a state where Friday night football is a sacred ritual, skipping out on mum tradition is about as rebellious as wearing the wrong team colors.
From PTA Factories To Mum Shops
Once upon a time, PTA moms worked like a crafty pit crew, hot-gluing ribbons and charms in assembly-line fashion to raise money for schools. Plenty of students (and their parents) still make DIY pilgrimages to craft stores, hunting down the sparkliest supplies possible.
But now, mum shops have popped up across North Texas, like The Mum Shop in Allen and DK Florals Inc. in Aubrey, where you can order a custom creation that guarantees your mum won’t look like anyone else’s. Think of it as couture, but with teddy bears and tassels.
A Texas-Sized Tradition
The birthplace of homecoming is still debated — Baylor, Illinois and Missouri all want credit for the first in the 1910s — but in Texas, the tradition went rogue. What started as a humble flower corsage grew into something so large, so dazzling and so uniquely Texan that it could probably qualify as its own float in the parade.
At this point, mums aren’t just accessories. They’re a rite of passage, a declaration of school spirit and a chance to prove, once again, that in Texas… bigger really is better.
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