Have you ever wondered how a corsage meant for a homecoming date transformed into the over-the-top, larger-than-life self-expression of school spirit that mums are today?
Us, too.
Turns out, there are points in Texas and American history that helped this tradition blossom.
But, at their root, homecoming mums may just be a big ol’ metaphor for the oh-so-big reputation of Texas.
At least that’s what one mum historian believes.
“Big hearts, big love, big football, big community, big family,” said Amy Schultz, author of Mumentous, a book detailing the origin evolution of homecoming mums featuring the personal stories of Texans and their mum memories.
Mum’s… not really the word
‘Mum’ is short for Chrysanthemum, a fall flower that was especially popular around the turn of the 20th century.
“They were kind of haute couture,” said Schultz.
Guess what else was blooming around the year 1900? American football.
The first high school football game was played in Galveston, Texas in 1884.
“But, you know, it was still kind of rough and tumble. And so, what were schools to do to bring people to games?” said Schultz. “Well, so one idea was to create the concept of a homecoming.”
The University of Missouri is credited with creating the first homecoming mums, which back then were live Chrysanthemum flowers adorned with a few ribbons and given to a homecoming date.
So, how did we go from that to this?
“Because Texas did something different than everybody else,” Schultz said.
After World War II, there was a baby boom in the 1950s.
Then, in the 1960s, Texas saw a population boom as more people moved to the Lone Star State.
High schools were being built fast and florists couldn’t keep up.
“Customization was already happening by the ‘60s. But florists were like, ‘My gosh, these are live flowers. We can’t make them weeks and weeks in advance,’” said Schultz. “So the idea of introducing artificial flowers started floating around.”
Schultz said it took years to convince people that wearing a fake flower was the way to go, but eventually, people began to see a mum as a personalized keepsake rather than something that would wilt and wind up in the trash.
“And once you start believing that a homecoming mum is a keepsake that can reflect the individual who wears it, moms get involved,” said Schultz.
And DIY they did.
During the recession of the 1970s, paying a florist big bucks for a big mum wasn’t affordable, so moms started mum-making.
“Michaels opened the first store in Dallas in 1977. Hobby Lobby opened its first store the year before in Oklahoma,” said Schultz. “And so suddenly, all of these homecoming mum supplies came rushing into the market through North Texas.”
Spirited Mums by a Spirited Mom
It is hard to describe Ronnie Wiggins’ mum-making workshop if you haven’t seen it for yourself: floor-to-ceiling flowers and feathers, countless spools of ribbon in a rainbow of colors, stacks of tiny trinkets and an arsenal of glue guns.
Every inch of the room is dedicated to the mum-making passion she launched into her business, Spirited Mums by a Spirited Mom, in 2019.
Wiggins learned how to make mums after her mother taught her when they were on a tight budget during her high school years.
Between August and November, during what she considers her busy season, Wiggins makes between 70 to 80 custom homecoming mums.
It takes her about six to eight hours to craft just one.
“I’m on 15 hours of sleep for the week,” Wiggins laughed. “There have been many nights that I have forgotten to go to bed, forgotten to eat.”
While fall is homecoming season, mum-making is year-round for Wiggins.
When she’s not fulfilling mum orders, she’s prepping for the next year by handmaking braids in local schools’ colors. The braids hang on a clothing rack ready to be pulled and plugged into a mum.
Plus, there are mum-maker retreats.
“We have discussions about marketing, social media trends, the Pantone color of the year. Because that sometimes determines what colors we’re going to see in mums,” said Wiggins.
That’s right. Mums aren’t just about school colors anymore.
They’re not just for a homecoming date, either.
Garters and homecoming mums on an elastic armband traditionally worn by guys, aren’t just for the fellas anymore.
“I’ve seen girls wear garters,” Schultz said. “Like, why not, right?”
These days, a mum is a reflection of the person wearing it.
“There’s a lot of personal storytelling that is going on in the mum, especially the senior year,” Schultz said. “I’ve seen quite a few mums that tell the story of what that student’s going to do after graduation.”
The point is that there is no right or wrong to pull mums off.
“People always talk about the rules for mums. It can only be from your date,” Wiggins said. “It can only have this. It can only be school colors. And I always tell people there’s no rules for mums. There’s no rules.”
Mum trends
These days, attention is paid to what’s hot and what’s not from one homecoming season to the next.
In 2024, tiny mums are huge.
There’s the Croc mum, like this one created by Morgan Made.
There are also mum earrings to match the main mum, like these made by Texas Mumstar.
Then, perhaps the hottest of 2024′s trends: the Stanley mum.
The Stanley mum is a small mum that hooks onto the insanely popular mug, like this one we made with Ronnie Wiggins.
Even those these tiny mums get big likes on social media, Wiggins doesn’t sell them because of the additional cost and labor that come with them.
Speaking of cost, mums can get pricey.
It all depends on what the customer wants.
“Thirty-five dollars is where you start with garters,” Wiggins said. “And as far as going up to a mum, you can go up to probably about $600-$700.”
Not only can prices get high, but so can mums themselves.
Some schools are building mums as a group to represent their school and hanging them several stories high.
“Last year, I was able to find 13 schools across the state of Texas that made moms that were at least 18 feet tall,” said Schultz.
Check out this one from Churchill High School in NEISD:
Whether you order a mum or DIY, go big or go home, mums are what you make of them.
“I love doing this,” Wiggins said. “I really do.”
It’s who’s wearing them that counts most.
“Mums are a love story. And I’ve never found any reason to think otherwise,” said Schultz.