Homecoming Mums

[Foofoogal]

Homecoming and mums are vintage 101.

What gal did not get them from her beau in the vintage yesteryear?
It may not be up North but it was and is huge in the South.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.michaels.com/The-Homecoming-Mum/ae0254,default,pg.html

http://www.plushinarush.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=14

Both of these links tell the history in the South of the Mum.

Like telling a Scottish person the Kilt is not relevant to his/her history.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ktmnpuoSE

1980s video on larger mums.


umm....1911 first Homecoming is pretty much Golden Era and Mums in the South are for sure.

 

[DesertDan]

I grew up in west Texas and when I was in high school (Class of '82) mums were the home coming tradition then as well.

 

[dhermann1]

Mums are great! The last gasp of really splashy flower power before things turn brown.

 

[Geesie]

Mums are great! The last gasp of really splashy flower power before things turn brown.

Are you talking about seasons changing or fashions of the 70s?

 

[Dewhurst]

Initially I thought the topic of this post was mothers (mum is a common informal term for mother around my family and many others).

Still... flowers are.... interesting.... too.....[huh]

 

[Foofoogal]

Homecoming Mums were not a fashion of the 1970s. :eusa_doh:

If one looks at the link it was a staple forever.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.adrian.edu/150/photo_then-now.php

1960s Homecoming Mum photo. :eusa_doh: and this is up North.

Someone owes me an apology.

 

[Foofoogal]

It was also custom to have ribbons for every game sold. By the school and at the gates. The sale of these ribbons not only inspired school spirit but it brought in revenue for the school and sports programs.

 

[James71]

Where I'm from a mum is the woman what bore ya.

 

[Foofoogal]

Yes. In England and Australia mum is for mom. lol
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Part of the fun of the FL that I have been on forever is seeing different vintage things and terms from different areas of the world.

Milk jug in England is the same as our milk bottle here in the USA. ex.

I was quite surprised to see the mum photo from up North at a liberal college may I add. I am now on a mission for people to send photos of them in their mums on my Facebook page. I am going to write a blog about it.

Like Skink soup in Scotland or dresser vs bureau local areas have different things.
Vintage and history will be lost if there is not open communication and sharing of vintage across the board on this board IMHO.

It is now almost assumed that the Homecoming Mum is a Southern thing and it was not.
The video that started this off was from the 1980s and showed that indeed they used to be smaller before the 1980s but they did exist.

I have a photo of my cousin from late 1940s in a halter top. Many think this came about in hippiedom time.
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I was hoping for exchange of funny Homecoming photos with their mums on the Powder room as it is Football Season.
Considering my Father played on a 6 man team and hitchhiked to the games during the depression I can safely say they did play football then.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Your post in the PR might not have been closed had you provided some history and relevant information/photos with it.

A really terrible 80s high school news clip is not enough to get the girls' interests peaked.

Here is a relevant photo that would have grabbed the gals attention:

Also, I've never heard of this before and I'm sure many others haven't, either. I'm in the north, for one, and for two I could've cared less about homecoming in high school so even if we did have them I wouldn't have known. [huh]

 

[Foofoogal]

I can understand this. Many did not like High School at all but it is relevant IMHO to the FL.

I just did not think it thru but if you did know the whole vibe of these things you may of understood it better and/or others.

It was hilarious really and had some valid points because taking these MUMs away from the schools I know that still do this would be like taking Hockey out of the North or Football out of the South. It really is a status symbol to see who can buy the biggest and/or who has the most School Spirit.

It is about School Spirit but I also see it as personally teaching a valuable lesson. A young man usually had to work at a job to purchase said item for his gal.

Where is that from? I have looked all over and found few pixs which really surprise me. I am definitely going to be keeping a history now of this.
I would like to find the stated ribbons also with pictures. The guys and gals both wore those most every Friday for Pep Rally.
Thank you.

 

[James71]

So to assuage my curiosity, I went and looked them up.

No offence to those in the south, or to those that love them, but jeez louise some of the visually offensive gaudy beribboned pieces of bad taste I just witnessed should never have seen the light of day....

Sometimes I wonder if the maxim "less is more" never caught on over there on the other side of the pacific...

 

[Miss 1929]

In all the fiction stories in my vintage magazines (20s and 30s) that are set around The Big Game, they do mention mums. And usually those magazine are very East Coast centric.

Great picture, AmyJeane! You nailed it!

I am also surprised it would be so prevalent in the South, considering chrysanthemums need a cold snap!

 

[dhermann1]

My chrysanthemum story

About 20 years ago I extra-ed in a video about tennis (which never saw the light of day, but what the hey.) It was shot at the Flushing Meadow Tennis Center, where they have the US Open every year. It was supposed to be set at the Open, which is held around Labor Day, but this was actually shot on a bloody freezing day in November. The plumbimg was turned off in the stadium. But we were all dressed up in shorts like it was summer. Brrr!!!
Anyhow, at each corner of the court there was a huge display of white mums, just like you'd see a the Open. Maybe 30 plants. After the shoot was over, and we were paid our great big $25, I asked what they were going to do with the mums. They were going to throw them out! So I grabbed two of the plants and hauled them back to Brooklyn. I planted them, and one only survived another year. But the other one lasted about 7 years, and we enjoyed those nice big white mums every fall.
And that is the end of my mums story.
There was also a great big chrysanthemum symbol on the prow of the Yamato, the giant battleship of the Japanese Navy in WW II. The mum was the symbol of the Emperor.
Mums are wonderful flowers.

 

[Puzzicato]

Every time I hear "mums" for chrysanthemums I hear Hotlips Hoolihan saying "Frank - you are crushing my mums" on MASH.

I only have the most vague idea of what Homecoming is, and that original closed topic on the PR did nothing to make me think it was a Golden Era thing. Now I see it as a quaint custom, but not really something I get. School Spirit isn't something that anyone would talk about with a straight face in Australian schools.

 

[Foofoogal]

I cannot stress enough how much Homecoming is to a lot of people.

Homecoming is just that. The Homecoming of all previous Alumni who ever rooted for that school. Many times they will coincide when previous classes will have their own class parties. Like 10 year reunion of the class of 1989 or something. Sometimes the class will be recognized at the game.

With much fanfare the Queen and King is crowned generally halftime.
It is an odd thing but I would think the FL would be interested.
It is about the only time the students dress up in their best clothing and it used to be very important to do so.

Tradition is what it is all about in a nutshell.

Ok, it would be like the Australians doing away with the Koala. Think Aussies I think Koalas.
Think football and this time of year I think Homecoming and Mums.

Crysanthemum meaning is Fidelity so I am assuming the previous pick of this flower was lifelong support of the particular School. lol So see my really big flower. I really, really support this school.
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As far back as I know Victorian times many pretty woman can be seen in postcards with this flower. Whole series even.
Fidelity.

 

[Charlie74]

I grew up in Georgia and never heard of homecoming mums til I moved to Texas