Frommer's
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Frommer's is a travel guidebook series created by Arthur Frommer. Frommer's has expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks across 14 series, as well as other media including the radio show Frommer's Travel Show and the website Frommers.com. In 2017, Frommer's celebrated its 60th anniversary of guidebook publishing. Since May 2007, Arthur Frommer has been blogging about travel 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. 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, was writing her own series of travel guidebooks and continuing the Frommer’s travel legacy.
On August 13, 2012, it was announced that Google was acquiring Frommer's for an undisclosed sum of money.
On March 2013, it was reported that Google ended the manufacturing of Frommer's guidebooks.
On April 2013, it was announced that the Frommer's brand has been reacquired by Arthur Frommer and his daughter Pauline Frommer.. In July 2013, Arthur Frommer struck a deal with Publishers Group West to distribute and promote Frommer's books. Frommer's guides are now once again available wherever books are sold. Frommer's EasyGuide to New York City has been the best selling guide to Gotham since its debut in 2014.
Guidebook series
More than 75 million books have been sold since Frommer’s inception in 1957. Over 350 titles are available in the following series:
- Frommer’s Complete Guides
- Frommer’s EasyGuides
- Frommer's Day by Day for over 70 travel destinations
- Frommer’s Portable Guides
- Frommer’s Irreverent Guides
- Frommer’s Memorable Walks
- Frommer’s PhraseFinder & Dictionaries
- Frommer’s Driving Tours
- Pauline Frommer’s Guides
- Frommer’s National Park 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. Complete references from the Frommer's Guide book for Traveling around the world can be seen in the movie Last Stop for Paul.
