Frommer's

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Frommer's
Logo-frommers complete.png
Founded 1957
Founder Arthur Frommer
Country of origin United States
Distribution Worldwide
Official website www.frommers.com

Frommer's is a travel guidebook series founded by Arthur Frommer in 1957. Frommer's has expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks across 14 series, as well as other media including the website Frommers.com. In 2007, Frommer's celebrated its 50th anniversary of guidebook publishing.[1] Since May 2007, Arthur Frommer has been actively blogging about travel[2] on the Frommers.com website.

History

In 1957, Arthur Frommer, a young corporal in the U.S. Army, wrote a travel guide for American GIs in Europe, and then produced a civilian version called Europe on $5 a Day.[3] The book ranked popular landmarks and sights in order of importance and included suggestions on how to travel around Europe on a budget. It was the first travel guide to show Americans that they could afford to travel in Europe. Arthur Frommer returned to the United States and began practicing law. During that time, he continued to write and also began to self-publish guidebooks to additional destinations, including New York, Mexico, Hawaii, Japan and the Caribbean. In 1977, Frommer’s trademark was sold to Simon & Schuster, Inc. Pearson bought the reference division of Simon & Schuster in 1998 and sold it to IDG Books in 1999. John Wiley & Sons acquired IDG Books (renamed Hungry Minds) in 2001. Arthur’s daughter, Pauline Frommer, is now writing her own series of travel guidebooks and continuing the Frommer’s travel legacy.[1][4]

On August 13, 2012, it was announced that Google will be acquiring Frommer's for an undisclosed sum of money, and will be merging operations with Google's Zagat business.[5]

On March 2013, Google announced that all print editions of Frommer's will no longer be manufactured.[6]

On April 2013, it was announced that the Frommer's brand has been sold back to Arthur Frommer.[7] The books continued to be printed from October that year. As of July 2013, Arthur Frommer struck a deal with Publishers Group West to distribute Frommer's books.[8]

Guidebook series

More than 75 million books have been sold since Frommer’s inception in 1957.[citation needed] Over 350 titles are available in the following series:[citation needed]

  • Frommer’s Complete Guides
  • Frommer’s With Kids

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5
  • Frommer’s Portable Guides
  • Frommer’s Irreverent Guides
  • Frommer’s Memorable Walks
  • Frommer’s PhraseFinder & Dictionaries
  • Frommer’s Driving Tours
  • Pauline Frommer’s Guides
  • The Unofficial Guides
  • For Dummies Travel Guides
  • Suzy Gershman’s Born to Shop Guides
  • Frommer’s National Park Guides
  • MTV Travel Guides

In popular culture

Frommer's guidebooks are represented in the 2004 comedy EuroTrip when one of the main characters, Jamie, uses it to guide a group of teenagers around Europe. Jamie later gets a job with Frommer's at the end of EuroTrip. In the opening scene of 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Cameron Diaz enters a Mongolian beer shack holding a Frommer's guidebook. A copy can also be seen near the beginning of the 2008 film Jumper. A Frommer's guidebook can be seen in the movie Last Stop for Paul.

References

Notes

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  4. Jewish Women International: "Travel Tips from an Expert: Pauline Frommer" By Laurie Heifetz November 2011
  5. "Google to Buy Frommer's Travel Brand" August 2012
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External links