Saturday, Oct. 1, the students at Veterans Memorial High School celebrated Homecoming. The Homecoming night creates memories for life; when people dress up in pretty dresses and handsome tuxedos. When did the tradition of homecoming start and why?
First of all, why do we have a Homecoming dance every year in high school? Sporcle Blog says in their article “Why do we have homecoming?” from Sept. 10, 2018, it is a tradition of welcoming back former students and celebrating the existence of their school. It’s also a tradition in colleges and American and Canadian churches to show appreciation of the organization and its members. Homecoming is an event usually celebrated in the form of a dance or banquet and a game of football, basketball, soccer or ice hockey. Celebrations are different from school to school u. It usually includes activities for the students, sporting events, the school marching band, cheerleaders performing and a theme to represent the night.
The article “Homecoming” written by the University of Minnesota says the first-ever homecoming dance and homecoming game was hosted in 1914 in Minnesota, against the Wisconsin Badgers, with Minnesota winning 14-3.
In 1932, the first homecoming queen was crowned by judges and the first king was crowned 20 years later. The decision of who would win the title was based on beauty, popularity and academic standing. From 1970 to 1975, the crowning of homecoming queens was stopped because people did not like the concept of judging young women based on their beauty and popularity. It then changed so judging was based on student votes, campus involvement and academic standing. In 2017, the homecoming king and queen were renamed “homecoming royalty” to be more inclusive.
A big part of the homecoming tradition here in Texas is wearing a pretty decorated mum. They can be decorated in many different ways, with the school’s color, ribbons, initials and other personal touches. Julia Jones writes in the article “Mum’s the word” that the mums came to Texas in 1936 from Missouri and the tradition is that people wear and give mums as a way of showing love. Barbara Brunney, the dance coach at VMHS, says “It’s like our big Texas tradition”. She explained that everybody wears a mum to show school pride. The sizes can vary but normally seniors wear the biggest ones. “You can hear them walking down the hall,” says Brunney.
The mums came to Texas in 1936 from Missouri; where the first homecoming was held. The tradition of wearing mums during homecoming and the homecoming game was a symbol of showing affection to the person you gifted the mum.