Rick Smith/Contributing Writer
I’ve heard it for years: “Everything is bigger in Texas.” I think it’s true.
Texas holds something like 550 Guinness World Records. From the Houston woman with the biggest feet, crossing the threshold at a staggering size 18, to the heaviest ball of dog fur, weighing in at a whopping 201 pounds, Texans go beyond the bounds of expectations.
I’ve also heard that Dallas women have the biggest hair in the state. According to one high-end salon owner – a west coast transplant, Dallas women “like their volume.”
“Higher the hair, closer to God,” said Beatrice Fitts, founder and president of the Praying Pearls Ladies Ministry.
I think it’s somewhat exaggerated, but I really don’t know.
So, back to what I do know…
The special education department of the Arlington ISD holds the Guinness world record for the largest homecoming mum. The pink and white mum, a plywood base swathed in ribbons, flowers, and a teddy bear, is just over 118 square feet and measures nearly 22 feet long. Try that one on for size.
Mums—and garters, their male counterparts—are homecoming staples all over Texas and a rite of passage for high schoolers. If you’ve ever attended a high school homecoming game in Texas, you have, in all probability, seen gargantuan mums wearing tiny, small-boned girls. Larger-than-life mums with bells and lights and stuffed mascots hot glued, wired, perhaps even welded on. They are truly works of art, real showstoppers.
It was recently reported that one young filly was seen equipped with a harness to hold her mum in place. She nearly tripped over the glittery ribbons and braids that trickled down to the ground and trailed behind her.
The tradition of homecoming mums is said to have started in Texas in the 1930s at Baylor University. The corsages were designed to be worn to the homecoming game and dance that followed. The tradition originated as a love token between a boy and a girl, or between a parent and a child.
The first corsages were dainty, fresh white chrysanthemums decorated with long, narrow silk ribbons and sparkly glitter (invented by Henry Ruschmann, a New Jersey cattle rancher). Who knew that New Jersey had more to offer than pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwiches with disco fries, the Jersey version of Canada’s poutine?
If you have never tasted poutine – crispy, crunchy crinkle fries topped with melted cheese curds and brown beef or chicken gravy – you need to get out more. (Gravy is an essential ingredient for goodness’ sake!) Poutine is a culinary chef-d’oeuvre. A delicious party treat for football parties.
And speaking of football parties, it’s football season all across Texas. In fact, it’s homecoming week at Jefferson High. The Jefferson Bulldogs will play the Pittsburg Pirates at Lockett Stadium in Jefferson, Friday, September 20, 2024, at 7pm.
Come on out and support Jefferson’s varsity football team and be a part of the tradition, glamour, marching bands, cheerleaders, drill teams, and hundreds of cheering fans. And maybe, just maybe, you will spot a homecoming mum wearing a high school beauty.
Rick Smith is a Jeffersonian and can be reached at theriquemeister@gmail.com.