HOLLYWOOD SIGN
The Hollywood sign formerly known has Hollywoodland sign is a landmark and American cultural icon located in Los Angeles, California on Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains. The icon of a city and an industry, a cultural brand and symbol was originally established in 1923 as Hollywoodland. The sign was used advertise the new real estate development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. H.J Whitley known as the father of Hollywood already used a sign to promote his development Whitley Heights. H.J Whitley suggested to his friend Harry Chandler who was the owner of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, to make a similar sign to advertise their land. Since its establishment in 1923 the Hollywood sign has had a chequered past, it has been frequently vandalised and has suffered from neglect before resurrecting again to become the cultural trademark it is today.
The Hollywood sign was designed to last for only 18 months. The sign began to decay and sustained heavy damage and deterioration. In 1932 the actress Peggy Entwhistle finally achieved the celebrity rank she had sought by throwing herself to her death from the letter ‘H’. The Hollywoodland real estate developments also soon plunged a victim of the Great depression. During the early 1940’s Albert Kothe who was the signs official caretaker was involved in an accident that destroyed the letter H. Albert Kothe was driving while he was intoxicated and was near the top of mount lee when he lost control of the car, he drove of the cliff and crashed directly behind the letter ‘H’.
By the end of the 1940s, with the light bulbs stripped and letter ‘H’ toppled, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce feared that the district would become known as ‘Ollywood’ and gave the sign some basic repairs. By the 1970's however, the sign was once more on the verge of collapse. This time, it was saved by the Los Angeles cultural heritage board, which declared the sign a cultural and historical monument 111.
In the 1978 the sign made a comeback, when Hugh Hefner, owner of playboy magazine, hosted a fundraiser which raised a sufficient amount of money to replace the sign with a sparkling new steal structure. The City chamber set out to replace the damaged sign with a more permanent structure. Nine donors gave 27,77,77 US Dollars each, totalling to 249,999,93 Dollars to sponsor replacement letters made of steel supported by steel columns on a concrete foundation. The new version of the sign was unveiled on the 11th of November 1978 on a live CBS television special celebrating the 75th anniversary of Hollywood.
In 2005 refurbishment donated by Bay Cal commercial painting began in November, as workers stripped the letters back to their metal base and repainted them white. The original sign also remained in storage before being sold on Ebay in 2005.
Despite its crude past the Hollywood sign is inseparable from American identity as the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. The Hollywood sign is the city’s most permanent structure that the area has ever produced and is now protected by the Hollywood sign trust.
