First published in 1931, The Joy of Cooking was the result of a little creative brainstorming by Irma Rombauer. Recently widowed, a society matron facing the Depression, she decided to collect favorite recipes from friends and neighbors, and self-publish them, using the small inheritance left by her husband to do so. Friends willingly offered their recipes, but wondered who on earth would purchase the book-after all, they all already had the recipes.
And thus was cookbook history made. The Joy of Cooking, with it's unique style of recipe writing (each ingredient was given in the body of the recipe, as was the accepted format, but given a line to itself, making it easier to see at a glance if one had all the necessary items), and breezy style, quickly won over fans. Irma Rombauer won people over too, 'hand-selling' the book to bookstores, department stores, anywhere at all that it might sell. And all this without being able to cook at all well herself. The product of a generation and society that easily afforded household help, cooking was usually left to the experts. With the Depression however, many women found themselves struggling to make do in the kitchen, which they had hardly entered (Thus the title of the book-one of Irma's instructions included "stand facing the stove", for those that might otherwise be unsure.)
Her daughter Marion Rombauer Becker contributed the artwork in the early editions, and upon her mother's death, took over the writing and compiling. A somewhat more assured cook than her mother, Marion was able to correct some of the errors of earlier editions. Interested in organic gardening and natural cooking, she updated the book to include a greater emphasis on fresh ingredients rather than the canned soups Irma had found so appealing.
This is not only a book about the personalities of the women that created the Joy of Cooking, but also a comprehensive look at the publishing world. Bobbs-Merrill, the publisher of Joy, suffered from poor administration, arrogant editors, and overly strident lawyers. Anyone considering publishing a book at all would do well to pay attention to the mistakes made by the authors-at one point signing away all rights to the book.
Tantalizing, thorough, comprehensive, any one that has ever used the Joy of Cooking will be interested in this history of the book.
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