This article by Ray Spitzenberger first appeared in IMAGES for Oct. 21, 2021, East Bernard Express, East Bernard, Texas.
“Mum” is an extraordinary word in the English language, and a very old word, going back to the medieval era. Unlike us, the British tend to call their moms “Mum” rather than “Mom.” We Americans use the word most often to identify a particular flower, because “mum” is a much easier to spell and pronounce word than “chrysanthemum” (even as a Dime Box Spelling Bee Champion, I still have trouble spelling it).
“Mum’s the word” is an old expression used for centuries in England and America to mean, “It’s a secret.” Two of the meanings of “mum” come together when a young man instructs his friends not to tell anyone about the mum he is ordering for his date for homecoming.
Well, in Texas anyway.
This past Friday my junior-in-high-school granddaughter received a gigantic (“big” is not adequate to describe it) mum from her date to the homecoming dance after the East Bernard-Danbury football game. As we grandparents admired such a generous gesture in keeping with an old tradition, our youngest daughter told us no one in New York, where she lives, had ever heard of wearing a mum to homecoming.
You can bet this sent me to “googling” the internet, where I found it to be true, that only Texas and a few other states observe the tradition of wearing a mum for homecoming. The other states that do are Georgia, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and North Carolina. Also, since 2020, in North Dakota, when the tradition was brought to that state by Texans going there for the oil boom.
Actually, you would have to add Missouri, where the tradition began in 1911, in colleges. Supposedly, the tradition didn’t catch on in high schools until the 1980’s; however, my wife and I remember such a tradition in our high schools long before the 1980’s. Mum history is in the state of being written today, so the details still vary, and aren’t what you’d call vitally important history.
When the tradition really got underway in colleges in the 1930’s, homecoming mums were made from real chrysanthemums rather than faux mums, as they are today. Because real flowers wilted and didn’t last very long, the use of artificial mums became preferable. When real, the mums were as large as healthy chrysanthemums normally get, and believe me, they don’t grow the size of dinner plates! But with faux, anything is possible, and the mums grew in size. The idea of the young man wearing a garter with a small mum on it also dates back to the 1930’s.
Apparently, the reason for the chrysanthemum being the flower of choice was simple, — because it was in season during the fall when homecoming games were scheduled.
There are now lots of traditions regarding homecoming mums, and Mums and Kisses, a professional mum market, mentions a few in their advertising. The first one they list is: the bigger the mum is, the more the giver loves you. Second, the bigger it is, the more school spirit you have. And third, it’s cool to make it yourself, but the “in-crowd” orders a professionally made one. That sounds like traditions a mum provider would promote, but I’m sure it developed among the buyers and wearers.
I have always believed that high school should be a time of fun and happy times as well as work and study. I think we all tend to remember the happy times, which become memories that live with us forever. Homecoming celebrations are one of those happy times.
When getting ready for a homecoming game or dance, remember, mum’s the word!
-o-
Ray Spitzenberger is a retired WCJC teacher, a retired LCMS pastor, and author of three books, It Must Be the Noodles, Open Prairies, and Tanka Schoen.