Irma S. Rombauer

Chances are Irma von Starkloff Rombauer’s book is sitting on your bookshelf. In 1931, Rombauer, a homemaker from Missouri, assembled a collection of recipes she’d gathered from people she knew. She self-published the book privately as a fundraiser but was able to find a commercial publisher just a few years later. Rombauer’s book, The Joy of Cooking has been in print continuously since that time. @irmarombauer