The Landmark Museum recently hosted a reception for the opening of the “Mumentous” exhibit at City Hall. In addition to sharing the tradition of homecoming mums in Texas, there were mums of all shapes and sizes. There are also vintage letter jackets, football, band and cheer uniforms, photos of past homecoming games, yearbooks and other memorabilia. The exhibit includes items from all of Garland ISD’s high schools.
The increase in the size of these keepsakes has grown significantly. Many of today’s mums are so big that they hang on ribbons around the wearer’s necks as they are much too heavy to pin on. Many even have more than one flower and include ribbons that reach the floor and trinkets like initials, a braid of the school colors, bells, small stuffed animals and more.
Kisha Clark, owner of DK Florals, Inc., attended the exhibit opening reception. She has been making mums since high school, and her passion for the mum-making art has increased. The September 2020 issue of Texas Highways Magazine featured Clark in an article (Mum’s the Word) by Julia Jones. Clark’s company ships mums across Texas and beyond. She shared that the most extravagant mum she had made (at the time the article was written) was “body-sized” with four 7 ½ inch flowers. It reached the floor, had four or five braids and many details.
In 2012, Clark created Mum’s, Inc., a group that has grown to 145 professional mum makers and 80 businesses in Texas who share supplies and give advice to new mum makers.
According to Amy J. Schultz, author of “Mumentous,” a book that tells the story of Texas mums, adding ribbons in school colors became popular after World War II as the corsage became an extension of school spirit.
The first mums were worn in Missouri to the first-ever homecoming football game in 1911. The first mum seen in Texas was at Baylor University in 1936. It was in the 1980s that mums began to be more elaborate.
Schultz was the keynote speaker at the exhibit opening and shared the history of mums along with some amusing stories.
While taking photos at a homecoming game, Schultz said that she asked a girl if she could wear her mum for a few minutes. She said that she “just had to try one on.” She asked a girl with a huge mum if she could wear it for a moment. Here are her impressions:
…To say that Texas high school homecoming mums are super-sized would be ‘a pitiful understatement. A mum precedes you with the power of a juicy rumor…
The mum landed, and I took an involuntary step to steady myself. When you’re enveloped in a mum of this size, there’s no direction to go but forward…. As I swept by the fans sitting in the bleachers nearby, I felt like the homecoming queen and her parade float combined.
Even though my body was barely visible, there was nothing about me that felt hidden. I was outrageously conspicuous and totally emboldened.
…I returned her mum to its rightful perch on her body. Instantly, I lost 20 pounds. My skin welcomed back the light evening breeze.
On Schultz’s website, she explains, “They [homecoming mums] are as bodacious as football, as irresistible as a juicy rumor and as deep as a mama’s love.”
The author continued on the topic of “mamas.”
As Texans, we understand that “everything’s bigger in Texas” is both a point of pride and a call to action. That’s exactly what has been happening with homecoming mums in Texas over the last 110 years or so. There are lots of reasons why, which I detail in my book, but today I’d like us to focus on the most influential. Texas women.
Let me tell you a few things about Texas women… not because I am one, but because of what I heard over and over as I conducted my Mumentous research and collected hundreds of oral histories:
- If there’s a milestone in a teenager’s life – like his or her senior year – a Texas mom (or another family matriarch) will make sure it’s commemorated. Today’s mums commemorate milestones, especially senior mums, because of how substantial they can be. Because they are made of artificial flowers, mums can also be keepsakes, which give them more value because they can be displayed and cherished well beyond the day they’re worn.
- If there’s an opportunity for a teenager to participate in a community tradition, particularly if it’s related to something going on at school, a Texas mom is going to do her utmost to help make that happen. Homecoming mums today are a way for students to participate in the life of their school and traditions of their local community.
- If there’s an opportunity to celebrate what makes a teenager unique, a Texas mom is going to do that with gusto. Today’s mums can be highly customized for the girl or boy who is wearing it, making them a vehicle for expressing self-identity.
In these ways and simply put, homecoming mums offer Texas moms a tangible act of love.
Sources:
- https://www.papercitymag.com/
- https://https://www.mumentousbook.com/
- https://texashighways.com/culture/how-homecoming-mums-became-a-texas-tradition/
Don’t miss this FREE exhibit! – August 10 – October 12
More information here.
Football, Glue Guns, Moms, and a Super-Sized High School Tradition
This exhibit is hosted in partnership with the Texas Lakes Trail Region and represents the evolution of high school homecoming mums, offering a nostalgic journey through Texan culture, the DIY movement and the role of women as tradition-keepers.
Garland City Hall, 200 N. Fifth Street, downtown Garland
Monday – Tuesday: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Closed on Sundays
Special ‘Mumentous’ Events
FREE Homecoming Film Series – Plaza Theater, 521 W. State Street, Garland
- American Graffiti (1973) – Thursday, Aug. 22 – 7 p.m.
- Back to the Future (1985) – Thursday, Sept. 5 – 7 p.m.
- Varsity Blues (1999) – Thursday, Sept. 19 – 7 p.m.
Sept. 19 – 6-7 p.m., Amy Schultz will be at the theater to sell and sign her book “Mumentous.”
Visit visitgarlandtx.com/events/2024/mumentous for more information, directions, tickets
Your Grandmother’s Mum* – $5 per person (please purchase tickets in advance)
Saturday, Aug. 17 – 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Build Your Mum* – $50 per person (please purchase tickets in advance)
Sundays, Aug. 18, Sept. 8 and Sept. 22 – 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
FREE Homecoming Mum Masterclass
Saturday, Aug. 24 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Amy J. Schultz Book Signing
Saturday, Aug. 31 I – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 14 – 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
FREE Author Talk: “All the Bells and Whistles” with Amy J. Schultz
Saturday, Sept. 7 – 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Decorate Your Mum* – $50 per person (please purchase tickets in advance)
Thursdays, Sept. 12 and Sept. 26 – both are 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Garter Clinic* – $20 per person (please purchase tickets in advance)
Saturday, Sept. 21 – 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.