It’s that time of year: when passing period sounds like a cacophony of bells and trinkets. The exchange of mums and garters has long been a homecoming tradition in Texas high schools, the first-ever mum in Texas being spotted at a 1936 Baylor University football game. Adorned with ribbons, feathers, trinkets, and most notably, bells, mums and garters have an interesting history, and have expanded over time into the tradition they are today.

A typical homecoming mum is made to resemble a chrysanthemum corsage, hence the name “mum”. In decades past, the mums were made to be as small as the flowers that anchored them. In the 1990s, however, mums became more elaborate: the mums grew in size, and the chrysanthemum in the middle was replaced with artificial flowers so that the mum could be saved later as a keepsake. Garters, the male counterpart to mums, are much smaller and simpler, usually worn around the boy’s arm.

According to Texas Highways, the mum tradition originated in Missouri, surprisingly enough, at the first-ever homecoming game in 1911. Not long after that first homecoming game, the tradition of a boy giving his homecoming date a corsage was born in Texas in the 1930’s.

In recent years, the practice of mums being gifted by dates has changed quite a bit; mums are no longer restricted to being gifts from dates, rather, mums can be made by family members, friends, or even the wearer themselves.

“I love the fact that you can design and make your mum who you are,” senior Kiera Sandoval said. “It’s a Texas tradition, and with it being my senior year, having a mum was something I always wanted.”