Mom's Church Songbooks (full of photos!)

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

May my praise be pleasing to Him;

As for me, I shall rejoice in the Lord.

Psalm 104:33-34

[[[This post is full of pictures, so grab a cool beverage and take in all this musical goodness!]]]

My grandma played the piano and organ and led congregational singing; my mom mostly led the congregational singing but played the piano for herself.  She also sang whilst playing said piano and convinced me to sing harmony with her.  Some special memories, for sure.

I found some old songbooks my mom had given me before she became incapacitated by aphasia.  Some were hers and some were her mom's.  Look at these covers!  #oldschool

You'll notice Grandma had two of the black/white/green songbooks in the lower right corner.  I can imagine she had one copy kept in the piano bench at church (you know, where you lifted up the piano bench seat and there was storage underneath) and one she kept on her piano in the parsonage.  That book was published in 1943!

Here is the inside cover:

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In the upper middle left is a book of grandma's called "One Hundred Hymns and Gospel Songs" by Frank C. Huston published in 1955.  Here are some images of the inside covers:

That dedication above:  I don't have that nose tickle and a throat lump, not at all.

What joy Mr. Huston must have found in leading people in worship!

More about Mr. Huston: 
 Frank C. Huston - Wikipedia
Frank C. Huston | Hymnary.org
Commander-in-Chief Frank C. Huston (suvcw.org)

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Grandma was a Bullet Journaler!  Okay, not in the sense we know today, but she sure listed out some lyrics in the well-worn composition book you see below.

She had two volumes of these composition books and they were kept together.  So much so that the coils have intertwined with each other and have essentially become one book.  I didn't have the heart to take them apart.

        

    

Look at that last picture (above).  She had written out words to "Jesus Loves Me" in two different languages:  Shona and Portuguese.  Grandma and Grandpa were always missions-oriented.  Must be where I get it.

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The following booklets are some of the ones my mom had.  They are mostly from the 1970s so you might see some real groovy-ness in these pictures.  Enjoy!  #eyecandy

   

   

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Some extra special groovy-ness in the booklet below.  We'd think the book was a steal at $1.25 today!  I sure was fascinated by the embroidery pictured on the cover below.  I made sure it was displayed prominently on my mom's piano.  I secretly wanted that embroidery on a pair of jeans--can you blame me?  I don't remember my mom giggling at my girlishness organization or how many times she secretly gave me the ol' SideEye.  #notfarfromthetree

   

A pic of some groovy 1970s graphics for ya:

Some cool-hair-groovy-ness below:

What conditioner did he use?  Honestly.

   

Check out that last picture above:  "What?  No guitars where you are? No bass? No drums?  Take heart!  They're as close as your music supplier!"

This book was published in 1971 and churches were moving toward using more instruments besides the piano and organ.  Church music had to change with the times whether we liked it or not.

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Please share your memories in the comments; I'd love to hear them!

I know I am very much looking forward to spending the rest of eternity singing with the Saints in that heavenly choir, joining my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents along with these amazing men and women who wrote these songs and compiled these collections.

"We're all walking each other Home."