Here in the south, football is kind of a big deal. Friday nights are spent at the local high school match-up, Saturdays we cheer for our college alma maters and Sundays are devoted to the NFL. If you’ve never had the experience of a Saturday spent tailgating with 100,000 other rousing fans, you are missing out. One thing that I love about being southern is how we can’t just take the easy route with anything.
Why would anybody ever settle for opening up a bag of chips when she could construct a football centerpiece out of yellow chrysanthemums? I found these images in a 1967 edition of Southern Living magazine and yet more than 40 years later, you can still see festive decor such as this at parties and tailgates all across the south. A more recent soiree in honor of the Razorbacks below.
Here’s a simpler version with a friendlier looking bunch of pigs…wow, mums were HUGELY popular in the 60s!
But what if you don’t happen to have a bunch of Hawgs, Dawgs, or Rebels sitting around your house? Never fear! Your local southern grocery store will probably fix up weekly baked goods according to your team’s mascot or in this case, the other team’s mascot. Only in the south can you buy a large green alligator made completely from dough and food coloring when the Gators come to town. However I refused to rip into this gator like the Florida Gators ripped into my beloved Vols. Taking the high road people.
If none of this strikes your fancy, there’s always your basic “Swedish meatball and olives stuck in a head of lettuce on toothpicks” buffet.
Who’s your team and what’s your favorite football festivity?
