Abby Connolly
One of the most recognized signs in the world is the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California. It’s been referenced in so many aspects of pop culture, and tourists love taking pictures with it every year.
This year, the famous landmark is turning 100 years old! Although many people immediately think of the sign when thinking about Los Angeles, not everyone knows its history. What better time to learn about it than on its 100th birthday?
Surprisingly, the Hollywood sign started as a billboard on top of Mountain Lee that advertised a housing development built in Hollywood Hills in 1923. The sign read “Hollywoodland” and was lit up with electric lights, which blinked all night.
The sign cost $21,000 and was only expected to be kept up for 18 months, but it stayed there for decades.
In the 1940s, the sign began to fall apart, and the housing development it had been put up for folded and shut down.
But, it had become such a notable feature that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce had it rebuilt, and ownership of the sign was given to the city of Los Angeles.
When the sign was repaired in 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce took down the “land” part of the sign so it only read “Hollywood.”
The sign grew in popularity as a national landmark, but by the 1970s, it was in poor shape once again. Letters began falling down the mountain, and one person even tried lighting an “L” on fire.
Surprisingly, the person to step in and hold a fundraiser to raise enough money to repair the sign was famous magazine publisher Hugh Hefner.
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