I just got an e-mail that my football tickets have shipped for the forthcoming college football season. I can hardly believe it. It is time to pull out the old tailgating recipes and start planning. I look forward to this time of year with great anticipation, but football season is also a time of reflection on special times in the past.
My boys were in high school and homecoming time rolled around. I, of course, reflected on the good old days when I was in high school and asked where we needed to order the corsages for dates. Much to my amazement, corsages today are everything from roses to orchids to carnations. So I must ask the obvious question: whatever happened to the football mum? Yes, the mum. The one with your school letters made of pipe cleaners and inserted into the center of the mum.
I remember the first time I saw one of those beauties was on my mom. Dad had taken us to homecoming in Tuscaloosa, (yes, University of Alabama OK, it’s out) and she had a cream mum with crimson and white ribbon streamers, and it was carefully pinned on her glorious tailored suit. The whole look was stunning.
Photos courtesy of Debbie Brenner
When I got to high school and homecoming was fast approaching, I was secretly hoping for one of the mums from my date. At that time, the competition was to see who could sport the longest ribbons hanging from the corsage. Mine was a medium length and was very respectable. Plus there was a tiny brown football hanging right below the mum.
A couple of years later, my sister Janice made the cheerleading squad, (that’s a separate post altogether) and for homecoming that year she didn’t have a date as she was concentrating on the cheerleading events surrounding the whole weekend. My brother Keith and I were determined she was going to have the traditional mum and ordered one for her with the requisite pipe-cleaner lettering plus we ordered 36-inch long ribbon streamers that were sure to hang to the hem of the cheerleading uniform. Done.
That particular evening, when the cheerleaders came out, there she was with the longest streamers. Mission accomplished. Those are the dream nights that live forever.
What ever happened to the football mum? I wish today girls would sport those large softball sized mums with all the trappings. It just occurred to me that I could wear one to a game and see if I get any attention. I wonder if there is a florist that even understands the concept.
I know you have football memories. Will you share them with us?
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