Editing Joy of Cooking

{{about|the cookbook|the folk-rock band|Joy of Cooking (band)}}
{{short description|1931 book by Irma S. Rombauer}}
{{Infobox book 
| name = Joy of Cooking
| orig title = 
| translator = 
| image = TheJoyOfCookingCover.jpg
| caption = Cover of 1975 edition
| author = [[Irma S. Rombauer]]
| cover_artist = 
| country = 
| language = 
| series = 
| subject = 
| genre = [[Cookbook]]
| publisher = [[Bobbs-Merrill Company|Bobbs-Merrill]], [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]]
| release_date = 1931
| media_type = 
| pages = 
| size_weight =
| isbn = 0-02-604570-2
| oclc= 1444322
}}

'''''Joy of Cooking''''', often known as "''The Joy of Cooking''",<ref>{{cite podcast | url=https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace/rebuilding-paradise/ | title=Rebuilding Paradise | website=marketplace.org | publisher=[[NPR]] | host=[[Marketplace (radio program)]] | date=11 Nov 2019 | time=22:10 | access-date=11 Nov 2019 | archive-date=12 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112015410/https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace/rebuilding-paradise/ | url-status=live }}</ref> is one of the United States' most-published [[cookbook|cookbooks]]. It has been in print continuously since 1936 and has sold more than 20 million copies.<ref>{{cite book |title=Joy of Cooking 2019 Edition Fully Revised and Updated |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Joy-of-Cooking/Irma-S-Rombauer/9781501169717 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=12 November 2019 |isbn=9781501169717 |access-date=15 December 2021 |quote=...more than 20 million copies in print.|last1=Rombauer |first1=Irma S. |last2=Becker |first2=Marion Rombauer |last3=Becker |first3=Ethan |last4=Becker |first4=John |last5=Scott |first5=Megan }}</ref> It was [[self-publishing|published privately]] during 1931 by [[Irma S. Rombauer]] (1877–1962), a [[homemaker]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], after her husband's suicide the previous year. Rombauer had 3,000 copies printed by A.C. Clayton, a company which had printed labels for fancy St. Louis shoe companies and for [[Listerine]] mouthwash, but never a book. Beginning in 1936, the book was published by a commercial printing house, the [[Bobbs-Merrill Company]]. With nine editions, ''Joy of Cooking'' is considered the most popular American cookbook.<ref name=NYT/>

== Background ==
{{Main|Irma S. Rombauer}}Born to German immigrants in 1877, [[Irma S. Rombauer|Irma Starkloff]] was born and grew up in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. She married Edgar Rombauer, a lawyer, in 1899. Edgar committed suicide in 1930 after a severe bout of depression, widowing Irma at age 52 and leaving her with $6,000 in savings.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Rombauer's children, [[Marion Rombauer Becker]] and Edgar Roderick ("Put") Rombauer, Jr.,<ref>{{cite news|work=Literary Saint Louis: A Guide|date=2000|author1=Cuoco, Lorin |author2=Gass, William H. |isbn=1883982359|title=Irma Rombauer (October 30, 1877-October 14, 1962)|page=112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3NeD7XVvXgC&q=edgar+roderick+put&pg=PA112|access-date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=May 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527160941/https://books.google.com/books?id=U3NeD7XVvXgC&q=edgar+roderick+put&pg=PA112|url-status=live}}</ref> encouraged her to compile her recipes and thoughts on cooking to help her cope with her loss. Rombauer spent much of the summer of 1930 in Michigan, creating the first drafts that would later become ''Joy of Cooking''. With the help of her late husband's secretary, Mazie Whyte, Rombauer began writing and editing recipes and commentaries while searching for more recipes in St. Louis. During the autumn of 1930, Rombauer went to the A.C. Clayton Printing Company, a printer for the St. Louis shoe manufacturers. She paid them $3,000 to print 3,000 copies of ''The Joy of Cooking: A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with a Casual Culinary Chat'' in November 1931.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Stand Facing the Stove|last=Mendelson|first=Anne|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|year=1996|isbn=0805029044|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/standfacingstove00mend/page/85 85–87]|url=https://archive.org/details/standfacingstove00mend/page/85}}</ref>

== Editions ==

=== First edition (1931) ===
In 1931 Rombauer self-published ''The Joy of Cooking: A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with a Casual Culinary Chat'' with more than 500 tested recipes and related commentaries.

The book was illustrated by Rombauer's daughter, [[Marion Rombauer Becker]], who directed the art department at [[John Burroughs School]]. Working weekends during the winter of 1930–31, Marion designed the cover,<ref>{{cite book|url=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71DHHMKDZTL._SS500_.gif|author1=Rombauer, Irma |author2=Rombauer, Marion |title=''The Joy of Cooking''|date=1931|edition=First|access-date=2009-01-07|archive-date=2014-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606204326/http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71DHHMKDZTL._SS500_.gif|url-status=live}} The cover.</ref> which depicted [[Martha|Saint Martha of Bethany]], the [[patron saint]] of cooking, slaying a dragon. She also produced silhouette cutouts to illustrate chapter headings.<ref name="unitarians">{{cite web | url=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/irma-rombauer/ | title=IRMA ROMBAUER: THE JOY OF COOKING, 1877–1962 | access-date=2014-06-04 | date=2012-07-28 | archive-date=2014-06-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606234453/http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/irma-rombauer/ | url-status=live }}</ref> By 1932, a majority of the 3,000 copies printed by A.C. Clayton were sold.<ref name=":0" /> Rombauer began to look for a publisher in 1932.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Second edition (1936) ===
[[File:Joy_of_Cooking_editions.jpg|thumb|Editions of ''(The) Joy of Cooking'', from the 1st printing in 1931 (top left) to the most recent edition, published in 2019]]

After Rombauer had searched for a publisher and been rejected many times, the Bobbs-Merrill Company published an expanded (640 page) second edition on May 1, 1936.<ref name=listing>{{cite web|last=Jarvits|first=Janis|title=Joy of Cooking: a listing of the American editions|url=http://www.cookbkjj.com/college/joy.htm#facsimile|access-date=23 April 2013|archive-date=5 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105124723/http://www.cookbkjj.com/college/joy.htm#facsimile|url-status=usurped}}</ref> The company had limited experience with publishing cookbooks, and Rombauer, similarly inexperienced in dealing with publishers, performed the negotiations herself without an agent or lawyer. The resulting contract, in which Bobbs-Merrill was granted the copyright not only for the 1936 edition but also for the original 1931 version, resulted in many years of conflict between the author and the publisher.<ref name=Mendelsohn>{{cite book|last=Mendelson|first=Anne|title=Stand Facing the Stove|year=1996|publisher=Henry Holt|location=New York|isbn=0-8050-2904-4|url=https://archive.org/details/standfacingstove00mend}}</ref>{{rp|151–153}}

The 1936 edition differed from other commercial cookbooks of the era by its retention of the author's folksy comments and anecdotes, and its layout of the recipes.<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|153–154}} Instead of listing the ingredients for a dish at the top with preparation directions following, the recipes in ''Joy'' (1936) were presented by narratives, with the ingredients indicated as the need for them occurred, with each placed in boldface on a new indented line — thus preserving a conversational style throughout the recipe. This method came to be known as the "action method".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1936-edition|title=1936 Edition|website=The Joy of Cooking|access-date=2016-03-30|archive-date=2016-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322005917/http://thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1936-edition|url-status=live}}</ref> These innovations, along with an aggressive marketing effort by Bobbs-Merrill, resulted in good sales.<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|159–161}} ''Joy'' reached the best-seller list in St. Louis and promoted as "the famous private cookbook" in the ''New York Times''.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Display ad 85 -- no title.|date=1936-05-03|work=New York Times|id = {{ProQuest|101893383}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Best sellers of the week, here and elsewhere.|date=2016-06-14|work=New York Times|id = {{ProQuest|106594650}}}}</ref> By the end of 1942, the second edition had had six printings, and 52,151 copies had been sold.<ref name=listing />

=== Third edition (1943/1946) ===

In 1939, Rombauer published ''Streamlined Cooking'', a collection of recipes that could be prepared in less than 30 minutes, with an emphasis on use of canned and frozen foods. This book was not a commercial success,<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|166–169}} but many of the recipes it contained became part of a new edition of ''Joy of Cooking'' published during 1943. This edition also included material intended to help readers deal with wartime rationing restrictions, including alternatives to butter in some recipes.<ref name=Acorn>{{cite book|last=Becker|first=Marion Rombauer|title=Little Acorn|year=1966|publisher=Bobbs-Merrill|asin=B0018O4N82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhQJAQAAMAAJ|access-date=2020-10-26|archive-date=2021-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527160940/https://books.google.com/books?id=JhQJAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Sales of this edition were phenomenal: from 1943 through 1946 a total of 617,782 copies were sold, surpassing sales of ''Joy of Cooking's'' principal competitor, [[Fannie Farmer]]'s ''[[Boston Cooking-School Cook Book]]''.<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|172}}

During 1946, a minor revision of the 1943 edition was published. While substantially the same as its predecessor, the 1946 revision omitted the material related to wartime rationing and incorporated additional recipes from ''Streamlined Cooking''.<ref name=listing />

=== Fourth edition (1951) ===

Irma Rombauer was 69 years old when the 1946 edition of ''Joy'' was published, and her health was beginning to decline.<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|194–195}} She was concerned about the future of her book, since Bobbs-Merrill (which owned the copyright for the original publication) might have selected an author of their own choosing for future editions once Rombauer was unable to continue. To ensure that the book remained a family project, Rombauer negotiated with the publisher a clause in her contract naming her daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker, as her sole successor in any future revision.<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|201}}

Relations between Rombauer and Bobbs-Merrill, never cordial, worsened during the late 1940s, and in the fracas Marion Becker gradually assumed increasing responsibility, at first regarding the book's design, and eventually its content. Partly for legal reasons, the 1951 edition was published with Marion Rombauer Becker listed as co-author, and she received 40% of the royalties.<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|chap 8}} The authors strongly resisted the publisher's wish to illustrate the book with photographs and instead embellished the book with simple, functional line drawings by [[Ginnie Hofmann]], a friend of Becker's.<ref name="Mendelsohn" />{{rp|262–270}}

Becker was a passionate advocate of healthy eating, and the 1951 edition was marked by an increased emphasis of such topics as whole grains and fresh produce. Many of the old "can-opener" recipes from ''Streamlined Cooking'' were eliminated. This edition also was the first to introduce the use of the blender and other modern household items into its recipes. The number of recipes had increased to more than 4,000.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Because of the time taken by the protracted legal arguments, final editing of the 1951 edition was done hastily. The same edition was reprinted in 1952 with some errors corrected, and again during 1953 with a revised index.<ref name=listing />

=== Fifth edition (1962/1963/1964) ===
[[File:Childs Joy of Cooking.JPG|thumb|Well-worn copies of the book from the library of [[Julia Child]] on display at the [[National Museum of American History]]]]

In 1962, the year of Irma Rombauer's death, a revised edition of ''Joy of Cooking'' was published. This edition was released without Marion Becker's consent. Subsequent releases of the book during 1963 and 1964 were essentially massive corrections, and Becker arranged for the publisher to exchange copies of the 1962 edition for later corrected versions upon request.<ref name=Mendelsohn />{{rp|342}}

The foreword of the 1962 edition explains that Becker's favorite recipes include "[[Cockaigne]]" in the name, (e.g., "Fruit Cake Cockaigne"), after the name of her country home in Anderson Township, near [[Cincinnati]].<ref>
{{cite book|last=Rombauer|first=Irma S.|title=Joy of Cooking|year=1967|publisher=Bobbs-Merrill (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited Edition)|location=Indianapolis, Indiana|page=2 of Foreword (not numbered)|edition=1964|author2=Marion Rombauer Becker |type=hardbound|quote=Finally, in response to many requests from users of "The Joy" who ask "What are your favorites?", we have added to some of our recipes the word "Cockaigne", which signified in medieval times "a mythical land of peace and plenty", and also happens to be the name of our country home.}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web|last=Mendelson|first=Anne|title=The History of the Joy of Cooking ''[on the Joy of Cooking official website]''|url=http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/history-joy-cooking|access-date=7 December 2013|quote=In this edition, Marion, who loved the sense of sharing pleasures with reader-friends as much as Irma, pointed to her family's special favorites with the designation "Cockaigne"—the name of the Beckers’ beloved Cincinnati home, where she had created an eight-acre "wild garden" and model of ecological restoration.…Because of serious author-publisher disagreements, though, the new edition was not published in a form acceptable to Marion until 1963 (a version had appeared during 1962, the year of Irma's death).|archive-date=10 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210115937/http://thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/history-joy-cooking|url-status=live}}</ref>

This edition was also published in paperback format (most notably, a two-volume [[mass market paperback]] edition); it is still widely available in used bookstores.  The 1962 edition was also released as a single-volume [[Comb binding |comb-ring bound]] paperback mass-market edition starting in November 1973 and continuing into the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Joy of Cooking|date=1973|isbn= 0-452-25665-8|author1=Rombauer, Irma |author2=Rombauer Becker, Marion }}</ref>

=== Sixth edition (1975) ===
The 1975 edition was the last to be edited by Becker and remains the most popular, with more than 6 million copies sold.<ref name=":3" /> More than 1,000 pages long, and with over 4,300 recipes, it became a standard in kitchens throughout the country. The book included sections concerning backpacking, hiking, and substitutions, and though many sections may seem antiquated to contemporary fashion, many home cooks still use it.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1975-edition|title=1975 Edition|website=The Joy of Cooking|access-date=2016-03-30|archive-date=2016-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414012446/http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1975-edition|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Seventh edition (1997) ===
After the 1975 edition, the project was unchanged for about 20 years. During the mid-1990s, publisher [[Simon & Schuster]], which owns the ''Joy of Cooking'''s copyrights, hired cookbook editor [[Maria Guarnaschelli]], formerly of [[William Morrow and Company|William Morrow]], and editor of works by [[Jeff Smith (TV personality)|Jeff Smith]] and others. Guarnaschelli, supervised by Rombauer's grandson [[Ethan Becker]], managed the creation of the 1997 edition, published by Simon & Schuster's [[Charles Scribner's Sons]] division. The new edition kept the concise style of its predecessors, but it eliminated the conversational first-person narration. Much of the edition was ghostwritten by teams of expert chefs instead of the single dedicated amateur Irma Rombauer had been when she created the book. The 1997 version is fairly comprehensive; however, it no longer contains much information about ingredients or frozen desserts.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Upon its publication during January 1997, the edition was titled ''The All-New, All-Purpose Joy of Cooking''; during November of that same year, it was reissued with the title ''The 1997 Joy of Cooking''.<ref>{{Cite web|title = 1997 Edition {{!}} The Joy of Cooking|url = http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1997-edition|website = www.thejoykitchen.com|access-date = 2016-01-18|archive-date = 2015-11-27|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151127031000/http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1997-edition|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|edition = Revised|title = The All New All Purpose: Joy of Cooking|publisher = Scribner|date = 1997-11-05|location = New York|isbn = 9780684818702|language = en|first1 = Irma S.|last1 = Rombauer|first2 = Marion Rombauer|last2 = Becker|first3 = Ethan|last3 = Becker}}</ref>

=== Other special editions and printings ===
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2016}}

In 1995, a hardbound edition illustrated by Ginnie Hofmann and Ikki Matsumoto was released.{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}}

In 1998, a reproduction, described as "A Facsimile of the First Edition", was released.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1931-edition|title=1931 Edition|website=The Joy of Cooking|access-date=2016-03-30|archive-date=2016-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413182323/http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/1931-edition|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Eighth edition (2006): 75th anniversary edition ===
In 2006, Scribner published a 75th anniversary edition, containing 4,500 recipes, that reproduced much of Rombauer's original style. The new version removes some of the professionalism of the 1997 edition and returns many simpler recipes and recipes assisted by ready-made products such as [[cream of mushroom soup]] and store-bought [[wonton]]s. The 2006 edition also reinstates the [[cocktail]] section and the frozen desserts section, and restores much of the information that was omitted for the 1997 edition.

The new version includes a new index section named "Joy Classics" that contains 35 recipes from 1931 to 1975 and a new nutrition section.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/75th-anniversary-edition-2006|title="75th Anniversary Edition (2006)|website=The Joy of Cooking|access-date=2016-03-30|archive-date=2016-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413143434/http://www.thejoykitchen.com/all-about-joy/75th-anniversary-edition-2006|url-status=live}}</ref> It was still edited and written by the Rombauer-Becker family.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Ninth edition (2019) ===
600 new recipes were added to this edition. Irma's great grandson, John Becker, and his wife Megan Scott, were responsible for the updates.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levitt |first1=Aimee |title=The new Joy Of Cooking keeps it in the family |url=https://thetakeout.com/new-joy-of-cooking-cookbook-2019-edition-interview-1838879335 |website=The Takeout |date=14 October 2019 |publisher=G/O Media |access-date=18 March 2021 |archive-date=11 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211232142/https://thetakeout.com/new-joy-of-cooking-cookbook-2019-edition-interview-1838879335 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Reception ==
''Joy of Cooking'' became a bestseller originally due to its readability for the middle classes and Rombauer's unique style. Her recipes were designed specifically for middle-class people doing most of their own cooking for their family. She specifically tested and practiced the recipes to ensure they could be produced easily in a relatively brief period of time without much complication. Once she combined her witty comments on the cooking and serving with the action method, her cookbook became readily readable by the average cook in America. Moreover, Rombauer paired the conversational style of the recipes with casual discussions of etiquette and hosting. Her methods were distinct from the other cookbooks of the time, which featured many complex recipes, while her style was simple and conversational. By providing an interesting and easy to read cookbook for the middle class, ''Joy of Cooking'' became the main reference book for many mid-century American cooks.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/23623/genius-joy-cooking|title=The Genius of the Joy of Cooking|website=Mental Floss|access-date=2016-03-30|date=2010-01-02|archive-date=2016-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410201039/http://mentalfloss.com/article/23623/genius-joy-cooking|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/irma-rombauer/|title=Irma Rombauer: The Joy of Cooking, 1877–1962|website=Harvard Square Library|language=en-US|access-date=2016-03-30|date=2012-07-28|archive-date=2016-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330170123/http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/irma-rombauer/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
The ''Joy of Cooking'' is considered the most popular American cookbook.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/dining/01joy.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Does the World Need Another 'Joy'? Do You?|author=Kim Seversonnov|date=1 November 2006|access-date=17 October 2018|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706130659/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/dining/01joy.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Julia Child]] learned to cook from ''The Joy of Cooking'' and ''[[Gourmet (magazine)|Gourmet]]'' magazine. She enjoyed "Mrs. Joy's Book" and believed it taught her the basic principles of cooking.<ref>{{Cite book|title=My Life in France|last=Child|first=Julia|publisher=Knopf|year=2006|isbn=1400043468|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mylifeinfrance00chil_0/page/126 126]|url=https://archive.org/details/mylifeinfrance00chil_0/page/126}}</ref>

The book popularized the title formula ''"The Joy of..."'' used to indicate an accessible, popular overview of a topic, such as ''[[The Joy of Painting]]'' (1983), ''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' (1972), ''The Joy of Art'' (2020), ''The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Mathematics'' (2012), ''The Joy of Living'' (2007), and even ''The Joy of Accounting'' (2020).

==See also==
* [[Books in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/rombauer.html Biography by author Irma Rombauer's daughter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929032915/http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/rombauer.html |date=2006-09-29 }}, part of a series of Notable American Unitarian biographies

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joy of Cooking}}
[[Category:1931 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1936 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:American cookbooks]]
[[Category:Self-published books]]
[[Category:Bobbs-Merrill Company books]]