Pop-Up Blog-Hop: Mumentous by Amy J. Schultz

 

MUMENTOUS:Original Photos and Mostly-True Stories about Football,Glue Guns, Moms, and a Supersized High School TraditionThat Was Born Deep in the Heart of Texas by Amy J. Schultz
Nonfiction / Photo-Driven Memoir / Women’s History / Pop Culture / TexanaPublisher: Atmosphere PressPage Count: 178 pagesPublication Date: April 25, 2023
Scroll down for a giveaway!

The closest you'll ever get to seeing someone actually wear their heart on their sleeve is in Texas, every fall, at the local high school homecoming game.
They're called homecoming mums. They are as bodacious as football, as irresistible as a juicy rumor, and as deep as a momma's love. Over a hundred years ago when the custom began, mum was short for chrysanthemum, a typical corsage that boys gave to girls before taking them to the big football game. But through the decades, mum went from a simple abbreviation to a complicated shorthand for an eye-popping tradition that's as ingrained in the culture as it is confounding to outsiders.
Through her original photography and collection of stories from across and beyond the Lone Star State, Amy J. Schultz takes us deep in the heart of mum country. You'll meet kids who wear them, parents who buy them, and critics who decry them as just another example of consumerism gone wild. But mostly, you'll discover that just like every ritual which stands the test of time, someone is keeping the tradition alive. Someone like Mom.
Click to Purchase!Amazon │ Powell’s Books │ Bookshop.orgBarnes & Noble │ Target

Amy J. Schultz is an author and award-winning photographer who explores unique aspects of modern culture that hide in plain sight. When she isn’t talking about homecoming mums, Amy is writing, taking photos, working on other creative projects, traveling, snort-laughing, or vacuuming up dog fur.
Website ◆ Instagram ◆ Amazon ◆  BookBub Goodreads ◆ Newsletter ◆ Facebook




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NotableQuotables from Mumentous by Amy J. Schultz

 

A Texas homecoming mum precedes you with the power of a juicyrumor.

In Texas, football is an identity. Your team and fellow fansare your people, and once you’re in, you’re in for life. While the rest of theworld might just see a field, brightly lit by vibrant LED displays, Texansunderstand that Friday night lights describe the collective energy, pride, andsense of belonging that glow from the stands.

Which is why, by gosh, you must dress for the game. You’renot just a spectator! You have a critical part to play, so you’d better suitup.

Anchored in the past and fed by expectation, a traditionflows most deeply in places with the fewest obstacles to it. Ultimately, thosethat survive allow themselves to be contoured by the times rather than dammedby them. Even in Texas, the land where homecoming mums began.

How do you make a mum?

“Wine,” she said. “Lots and lots of wine.”

This century-long evolution of what it means to “go” tohomecoming, mums included, has been a long, slow burn, stoked by Texasteenagers being teenagers living in the present. Charged with contrary desiresto fit in and stand out and to “go-fight-win” for a place you love more thanyou can explain, today’s rules of engagement are slowly eclipsing the originalcourtship ritual that predates anyone alive.

The key to any mum is to own it.

From conception to completion, a mum under constructionbecomes another family member. Like a demanding relative from out of town, itmoves in and can take over for weeks on end.

The members of this professional group, united around mums asboth a business and a cause, were like homecoming superheroes. Their mission?Fight against the evil misconception that mum-making is just a fun littlehobby.

I lifted my eyes up to the funeral mum created in honor ofone of the matriarchs of the entire homecoming mum industry. I imagined all thecare that went into creating it, and the fullness of a life lived in a lovingcommunity of family and friends. The shimmer of a joyful disposition. Theembellishments of fond memories. The practical, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants apparatusbehind the scenes that holds it all together.

 

Every mum is part Christmas tree, part Disney princess gown,part wind chime, and part banquet hall centerpiece, and like snowflakes, no twoare exactly alike.

I never thought I’d see a fall in Texas without high schoolfootball. Then again, I never thought a global pandemic would happen in mylifetime. I’ve now experienced one of those two things.

Today’s kids know they live in an unsteady world, one that’sfull of continuums and ranges and spectrums. While society dukes out whether ornot there’s room for interpretation and variation and compromise, there arekids making mums out of love for other kids who can’t.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!TWO WINNERS:First Prize: signed hardback copy + enamel pin; Second Prize: eBook + enamel pin(US only; ends midnight, CST, 9/8/23)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE FOR PARTICIPATING BLOGS, ADDED AS THEY POP UP.
blog services provided by