So Many Ribbons, So Much Bling

What I learned about the "Mums and Garters" tradition for high school Homecoming

The above photo comes from a September 2018 edition of Plano Magazine - I had considered using student photos, but I didn’t want to unintentionally embarrass anyone.

“I cannot wait for you to experience Mums and Garters.”

My college roommate’s words rang in my ears as I walked into school for my very first Texas homecoming. She was Missouri-born and raised and had moved to the Dallas area with her Texan husband. As a school librarian and media specialist, she had seen a lot in more than a decade of southern living, and I’m sure she giggled with glee when she imagined my reaction to seeing my high school students walk into school with massive decorations hanging off of their necks and arms.

Someone could have explained it to me, but I still wouldn’t have understood what they were talking about. For about a month, I had seen the floral department displays in H.E.B. and Kroger demonstrating what they offered for the Homecoming tradition, but I ignored it because it looked ridiculous. I understood Homecoming dress-up days and class competitions. I had seen the best in hallway decorating and, to be honest, my Indiana students put my Texas students to shame. I was prepared to chaperone the Homecoming dance and ignore the short dresses that barely covered the essentials. But nothing prepared me for what I experienced on that first Homecoming Friday.

Girls came in with monstrosities of ribbon and lace that hung from their necks, some of the ribbons nearly reaching to the ground. Boys came in with somewhat smaller versions tied around their biceps. Many of the girls begged to be allowed to place the heavy equipment on empty desks, attempting to get them out of the way so they could learn something in the hours before the class competitions.

The less ridiculous versions hung down to waists with fewer flowers created out of ribbons. The more ridiculous versions included bears in the center of each flower and bells or lights mixed in with the ribbons.

Photos from Mumtastic - Anatomy of a Homecoming Mum and KBTX 3 - Homecoming 101 - mums and garters

And all I could think was, “Where the hell did this come from?”

According to some, the tradition started in Missouri during the first-ever homecoming game, with students wearing actual chrysanthemums to the game. Others claim the tradition started in Texas during the 1930s. And as with everything in Texas, the tradition got bigger and bigger until real flowers were no longer sufficient and students (and their mothers) had to resort to other creative ways to outdo the previous year’s mum or garter. (You can read more about it here and here.)

Look, I’m all for ridiculous traditions that are good, clean fun. After all, I come from a state that regularly boasts Polar Bear plunges around a state that is frozen most of the winter.

But this, this was something I could never get used to. And it was a yearly reminder that I was clearly an outsider.

Now that I don’t run the risk of upsetting my students with my opinions about their treasured tradition, here is what I really think about it.

It is distracting

I know, I sound like such a teacher here, but the reality is that it could be really distracting to everyone in the classroom, including the student who, by third period, was annoyed by the burden they were carrying around to every class. There were students who really enjoyed the additional attention—positive and negative—that they got from walking around looking like they had gotten attacked by a craft store, but in my experience, most did not.

It is wasteful

And I’m not just talking about the hundreds of dollars that could be spent having one of these mums professionally made. I’m also talking about the environmental waste of something that students would wear for one day and then try to hang on their walls or stuff in their closets. By their senior year, I would listen to students talk about what they were doing to do with all of the extra memorabilia once they went off to college. I always left Homecoming with the feeling that there had to be a cheaper, more ecologically responsible way to commemorate the yearly event.

Soon after we moved to Houston, my school started encouraging kids to stop spending money on mums and garters (or at least spend less money) and use that money to donate toward the yearly house-building project our school worked on with a group in Costa Rica. It cut back on some of the ridiculousness, but it didn’t go away. The tradition had become ingrained in their Texan DNA.

To be honest, I am so glad that I don’t have to have this fight with my kids now that we’ve moved back to Indiana. I decided years ago that I wouldn’t be paying for it, but I wasn’t sure how that would go over. Now I never need to find out.

It can be divisive

As a microcosm of society, high school can be a time of divisiveness related to economics, politics, and gender. In 2017, our homecoming was less than a month after Harvey destroyed the homes of some of our students and the homes of loved ones. People were hurting from financial and personal loss. And yet there were a handful of kids determined to show up in bigger and better mums and garters. They saw it as reclaiming what Harvey threatened to take away from them, but not everyone saw it that way.

For students who are more eco-conscious, it becomes emblematic of American wastefulness. In an age of identity politics, this also, then, becomes another wedge in the political divide. And to be honest, even some of my more conservative students had started to see the waste in the tradition. Regardless of their parents’ politics, kids are fully aware of the impact of pollution and climate change and don’t necessarily want to be a part of it.

And yet, the tradition continues. As a born and raised Missouri Synod Lutheran, I completely understand the significance of traditions and the desire to hold onto them, even when the time for them may have passed. Traditions give us a sense of place and belonging, a way to connect the past and the present.

There are Texas traditions that maintain a strong sense of history and identity. But as someone who didn’t grow up with anything remotely resembling this, I just don’t see it doing either. Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong, but this is one tradition that I wish would go away.

I felt it was only appropriate to share this video from Mothers Against Greg Abbott that highlights the importance of Friday Night Lights, particularly in light of concerns about the new voucher legislation that is being strongly encouraged in the state house.

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