The History and Making of the Hollywoodland Sign in Hollywood California

The Hollywood Sign in Hollywood California

Originally the Hollywood sign was called Hollywoodland, before it was shortened

A Sign Is Born – 1923
Hollywood, which by now represented not just a city, but also an industry, a lifestyle and, increasingly, an aspiration, was officially coronated when the “Hollywoodland” sign was erected in 1923.

Built by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler as an epic $21,000 billboard for his upscale Hollywoodland real estate development, the Sign soon took on the role of giant marquee for a city that was constantly announcing its own gala premiere.

The “billboard” was massive. Each of the original 13 letters was 30 feet wide and 50 feet tall, constructed of 3x9’ metal squares rigged together by an intricate frame of scaffolding, pipes, wires and telephone poles – all of which had to be dragged up Mt. Lee on dirt paths.

Few realize that a giant white dot (35 feet in diameter, with 20-watt lights on the perimeter) was constructed below the Sign to catch the eye. The Sign itself featured 4,000 20-watt bulbs, spaced 8 inches apart. At night the Sign blinked into the Hollywood night – first “Holly” then “wood” and finally “land,” punctuated by a giant period. The effect was truly spectacular, particularly for pre-Vegas sensibilities.

Originally intended to last just a year and a half, the Sign has endured more than eight decades – and is still going strong.

Original Dedication of the sign

This is what the homes looked like that were built in Hollywoodland in 1923

The Hollywood Sign taken from Santa Monica Blvd. Area of Hollywood California, click picture to see a larger version

So you may ask, what is my fascination with the Hollywood sign? Having traveled to Hollywood California back in the early 80's I always had an interest in the sign after seeing it and driving up the mountain and around the sign. When you get up close to the sign you realize how gigantic it really is. Each letter is more than 50 feet high!

Being interested in google maps inevitably led me to search for and eventually find the Hollywood sign. Back in 2005 you could not just type in Hollywood Sign into google maps to find the sign. It took me much time and moving of my mouse to find it. That's the image you see first below.

In the year 2005, I had searched for and found the Hollywood Sign using Google maps, the first overhead view is the sign from above, click the image to see a much larger, full size, image of the sign

On June 29th of 2006 I again searched for the Hollywood sign and once I found it, immediately I could see that google maps had improved tremendously and that the quality of the image was far superior as you can see below. All of the radio and television antenna and satellite dishes that sit atop the mountain behind the sign are very visible in the google overhead map, how times change so fast.

Again, to see a large high definition overhead picture of the Hollywood sign below, just click the image, Enjoy!

The Hollywood Sign Today

Hollywood Sign Argentino Hollywood’s civic restoration, which began in the 1970s, picked up steam in the ensuing decades, fueled by a growing reverence for what the industry had come to represent worldwide. The Sign has always served as a barometer for the community; and as Hollywood re-blossomed, so too did the Sign, which benefited from a range of new preservation efforts.

In 1992, the California Attorney General granted distinct legal rights and responsibilities to three official agencies – the City of Los Angeles (which owns the land the Sign stands on), the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (which owns the licensing rights for the Sign’s image), and the Hollywood Sign Trust (formed to maintain, repair and provide capital improvements to the Sign for the benefit of the public – with the larger mission of helping to preserve Hollywood’s standing as the worldwide center of motion pictures and cinema arts).

Thanks to the Trust’s efforts, the Sign got a fresh new paint job in 1995, courtesy of Dutch Boy Paints, during a ceremony hosted, appropriately enough, by Phyllis Diller (the ‘queen of face-lifts’). On December 31, 1999, the Sign was the site of the West Coast’s highest-profile “Y2K” celebration, ringing in the new millennium with a dazzling display of lights and special effects. The Sign was featured alongside the Eiffel Tower, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, and New York’s Times Square during global millennium countdown TV coverage … The erstwhile real estate billboard continued its place among the world’s most revered landmarks.

In 2000 the Hollywood Sign Trust hired Panasonic to install a state-of-the-art security system comprised of a vast closed circuit surveillance network, and Internet-based surveillance (which can viewed live on this very website). The system, which is monitored 24/7 to protect the Sign and it neighbors from unwanted visitors and the danger of fire, was upgraded with new technologies in 2005.

In 2004 the Sign celebrated its 80th birthday at a gala celebration hosted by movie musical legend Esther Williams (another remarkably preserved octogenarian). The ‘birthday party’ was held during the opening ceremonies for the AFIFest – which was sponsored in part by the Trust. In mid-2005, the Sign ‘goes into makeup’ once again, and will receive another new sparkling white paint job.

Poised and polished for this millennium, the Hollywood Sign continues to inspire moviemakers and fans around the world, while playing a vital role in keeping the town it helped put on the map at the center of the global entertainment industry. Through the years – from its splashy real estate billboard roots, to its long neglect and decay, to its current status as a revered international landmark – the Sign has emerged more symbolically powerful than ever, conjuring an ever-expanding parade of images, desires and ideas with just nine simple letters:

H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D

Hollywood Sign Argentino
From http://www.glassgiant.com/hollywood_sign

The History and Making of the Hollywoodland Sign in Hollywood California

The Hollywood Sign in Hollywood California

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