‘Joy’ Through the Ages

1931: Irma Rombauer self-publishes her first recipe collection and sells 3,000 copies.

1936: Rombauer sells a revised and expanded edition of the book (and the copyright) to Bobbs-Merrill. It sells 50,000 copies.

1943: A new edition is published, including wartime rationing information. It sells 600,000 copies, including a revision in 1946 that removed the rationing information.

1951: Rombauer’s daughter Marion Rombauer Becker joins the team and begins the transition from recipe collection to reference book. It sells 200,000 copies in one year.

1962: Rombauer dies and Bobbs-Merrill prints an error-ridden edition unapproved by the family, which nevertheless sells 150,000 copies in weeks. The family publishes a corrected edition in 1963 that sells more than 500,000 copies in four years.

1975: The “Becker edition” is published, including voluminous background information. It sells almost 600,000 copies in just two years and remains in print to this day.

1997: The “Guarnaschelli edition” includes contributions from more than 100 cookbook writers, chefs and recipe testers. It sells 1.5 million copies in five years.