TEXAS Homecoming Mums
Homecoming Mums – Synonymous with Texas High School Football
Remember way back in the ’50′s, ’60′s and ’70′s, when high school girls proudly wore their mums to homecoming? Long ribbons in the school colors, a football trinket if the girl’s date was on the football team, a megaphone if she was a cheerleader, the school’s name applied to the ribbons with glue and glitter?
Some things have changed since the good old days, but homecoming mums are still synonymous with Texas high school football. They just look a lot different now.
Today, florists still provide the traditional white mum – and of course, they’re huge because we’re talking Texas. But the flower is usually silk now and the backing is covered with trinkets and gadgets. Gaining in popularity are the mini-mum – for the boys to wear as boutonnieres, and the friendship or “little sister” mums. The newest introductions are the mini wristlet mums and mum rings to be worn on the finger or attached to shoelaces.
Peer pressure has always existed, and today the girls want the biggest flower, the most adornments and the maximum number of streaming ribbons. To accommodate the current trends, florists begin ordering flowers, a multitude of colored ribbons in various widths and textures, and press-on glitzy letters in the early summer.
Accessories for the corsages are limited only by the imagination. In addition to those little footballs and megaphones of years past, today’s trappings include a menagerie of designer ribbons with helmets, cowbells, teddy bears, feathers, pennants, battery operated lights, glittery stars, chains, whistles, beads, candy, musical notes and instruments. For the truly extravagant, florists in larger Texas cities provide 14-karat gold jewelry trinkets.
Prices range between $20 to $80 in smaller towns, and the passionate mum-buyers pay up to $400 in large city shops. Locally in Victoria, McAdams Floral makes it easy for customers to choose from a large selection of custom designed mums, displayed on several walls. McAdams also presents a display board with all the accessories and ribbon types, which are numbered and priced. Customers can select their own corsage, adding a bit of ribbon or a few more trinkets to suit their personal taste.
The designers at McAdams delight in expressing their creativity by creating one-of-a-kind selections. If a customer chooses one of these designer originals, he or she is guaranteed to have a unique style.
For more information, call McAdams Floral at (361) 575-2307, or stop by the shop at 1107 E. Red River in Victoria.


I assume this is why we all call them football mums?!
I knew this sort of thing existed in other parts of the country, but never associated them specifically with Texas. And in the deep recesses of my mind, I imagined they looked more like the top photo. The evolution in the bottom photo is a bit of a shocker! You’d need a football player just to carry that around for you!! Do they actually wear them??
Yes Sprout we do wear them. And yes they usually are extremely heavy, we do call them “mums” because the flowers are traditionally a chrysantheMUM…. As the mom of a very social girl(yikes), i am sure that there will be many mums in our future… as i know there were tons in my past(my poor mom). I dont know how the rest of the state, or the rest of the country does things for that matter, but here in Southeast Texas, mums USED to be a form of persuasion, IE the day before homecoming a boy would bring a mum and present it and ask if youd go to the dance…. herego, many times the girls had 3 or 4…. wasnt easy to maneuver with 3 mums (huge) pinned to a cheerleading uniform… LOL… now it seems that they have gotten even bigger, and 14 K GOLD JEWERLY…. sheeeesssshhhh. anyway now it seems to be a thing of fun and friendship not necessarily obligation or dating, girls suprising their best friends, and guy friends…. guys suprising their female friends and not necessarrily dates. Oh how times change. Anyway, I hope this walk down my memory lane helps.(its just totally reminded me to be very very afraid of the teenage girl my child will soon be) Good day to ya. Enjoy Homecoming!
How much does ur mums run?
The garter mums that the guys wear on their upper arms start at $34.95, with plenty of Bling (including the girls and boys names). The 36” mums that the girls hold in their hands (they use to be pinned on the cloths before all of the Bling was added to weight it down….plus the girl’s shirts have gotten skimpier) start at $59.95 (again, with plenty of Bling already included with the names).