Saturday, September 22, 2007

Mums the word

Pam wins. When I see the word "mum", the first thing that comes to mind are the homecoming mums worn and coveted by thousands of girls. It wasn't until I went to college, though, that I found out these are just another Texas thing. Those of you who have no clue what these are, you need to go google "homecoming mum" and look at the images. They are amazing.

Imagine: at least a 6-inch silk mum with about 50 yards worth of ribbons that dangle past your knees. Add to the ribbons your name, your date's name, your school and the year. Also, you'll have plastic footballs and megaphones on there. Some ribbons will be braided. And if you are an upperclassman, namely a senior, it's highly likely you'll have at least 3 mums AND a small teddy bear. And yes, you pin this to your clothing and wear it like it's the coolest thing ever. And there is a boy version, too.

Since I didn't go to a school with football, I never actually participated in wearing, but I do remember making these with my mom for all of my brothers' dates. And I've decided that since my high school has homecoming sometime soon, I want to wear a mum. Maybe I can get the other Spanish teacher from Texas to start this tradition with me.

Go here for some images of mums. You HAVE to look at them on the girls because they are so big!

7 comments:

Kelley C said...

seriously? you never got to do this. you were a deprived teenager my friend. We still wear them at my house for an hour every night before bed.

EMU said...

My first year teaching I was astonished to see all the HS girls wearing these huge, gawdy contraptions on their shoulders the Friday of Homecoming week. I marched right up to one of the girls and asked her what the heck she was wearing. It really is quite a sight to see. And even more interesting, all these Texans seems to find wearing these items quite special. I guess we all have our crazy traditions...

But, the MOST amazing part is the $$$ people pay for the mums. I just got back from Michaels and they are selling them from $40-$150!! They are definitely not worth that much money. Maybe I should switch professions...Professional Mum Maker?

Anonymous said...

I'm personally shocked at how small the Texas ones are, compared to the ones Kelley and Kiran wear. In fact, Kiran's is bigger than she is and quite regularly causes her to fall over.

All kidding aside, WOW.

Maybe Jill needs a wedding mum to wear for the whole of G-105 Girls Weekend in BE 2007...?

merritt said...

We could TOTALLY make Jilly a bachelorette mum!

Yes, EMU, the mum-making biz is a lucrative career. However, you must be a good money-manager as all your funds come in during about a 6 week period!

Anonymous said...

Jill, you have to act surprised about your bachelorette mum, okay?

Anonymous said...

I TOTALLY loved wearing my mum(s) for homecoming when I was in high school.

merritt said...

Jeni, do you still HAVE them? I got to make mini ones when Mom and I made them for M&M's girls. I thought they were great!