The box under the table

Some of the best deals I've found at garage sales or homeschool conferences, or anywhere, are those tucked away in half-opened boxes under folding tables or stashed in corners.

A few years ago, tucked way under a vendor table, I found the first year of the math curriculum I wanted to use with my son, complete with many of the manipulatives still unopened in their packages, all for less than 25% of the retail price. I had come to the conference fully anticipating to have to pay for a brand new set, but was thrilled to find it used.

I found the second year, brand new, for about the same, at this year's conference.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the great Catholic books I found at a garage sale. Today, hidden in a box with old irons and other junk was an old book covered with a fairly worn blue cover. Curious I thought, since it was odd to have this book thrown in with the old irons, especially when the lady having the sale was a retired teacher who had piles of books gently set out on numerous tables.

The sticker had been priced at $2, but was marked down to fifty cents.

I opened up the cover and found it was, "The St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book." Of course, I nabbed it and quickly tucked it under my arm.



I can't say I've ever seen one of these before. My mom couldn't sing on key, so she never was in choir. I was a public school kid. The only hymnals I had ever encountered were filled with Haugen, Haas and Joncas. This hymnal has so many songs (titles) in Latin that I'm going to have to start teaching Latin in my homeschool just to understand the books I own!

This hymnal was originally printed in the 1920s, but my version is from the 40s. It contains, two versions of Adoro Te Devote, three versions of Laudate Dominum, five versions of the Ave Verum Corpus, and of course, my favorite, the Asperges.

You can buy reprints of this hymnal at various Catholic bookstores or it's also online at Project Gutenberg.

As I went to pay, the lady looked at me and said, "Oh, you got the hymnal. I have the Baltimore Catechism upstairs." I told her I had just bought a copy of the catechism at a garage sale a few weeks ago, but not the older version. She told me she had the original version. I didn't ask, but I'm pretty certain she wasn't willing to sell it.

I mentioned to her that my aunt still frequently recites various things from the Baltimore catechism. She just knowingly shook her head and off I went with my latest treasure.