I have to gently disagree as long as Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Crockers-Picture-Cookbook-Crocker-Editors/dp/0028627717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344748951&sr=1-1&keywords=betty+crocker+cookbook+1950+edition) is in print. That's the book my mom learned to cook from as a bride, since her mom was never much good at it. I, alas, take after my grandmother.

The big plus of this book is the photo tutorials, which are actually somewhat useful. The pics in Joy of Cooking (the 70s edition, anyway) always seemed more decoration than information.

Edited for HTML WTF.