How Giant Homecoming Mums Became a Texas High School Tradition

If you live in Texas, you know there’s more to homecoming than football and alumni events. The homecoming mum has risen from its humble beginnings in the 1950s and ’60s to become a statement-making hallmark of high school life in the Lone Star State.

The homecoming “mum” began as a sweet Texan token of affection given to a girl by her date in honor of the high school homecoming football game and surrounding events. Often in-season during the early fall months in Texas, chrysanthemums became the unofficial flower of high school homecoming events. A boy would accent a simple bloom with a few ribbons or adornments and give it to a date who would proudly wear the floral brooch to the homecoming game or dance. Back then, a typical mum cost around $3.

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