Hooray for Hollywood (the Sign)

Eighty-six years ago today the Hollywood sign that typefies the American film industry was dedicated. It seems that as long as there has been a film industry in Hollywood, the Sign has been there to 'officially' designate that yes indeed, there is such a place where the magic of the movies happens. The funny thing is that I didn't know all that much about it until I looked it up. But rather than have you, my faithful readers, dig up the information on your own, I'll pass along what I was able to find out so that you too can know more about this entertainment icon.

One of the first things I learned was that the Hollywood sign actually read "Hollywoodland" when it was first put up. Now contrary to what many people think, it wasn't actually put up as a promotion of the film industry lying at the foot of the Hollywood Hills but rather to promote a new housing complex (aptly titled "Hollywoodland" that was located just below the sign. The homes were advertised as being in a "superb environment without excessive cost on the Hollywood side of the hills." They were originally put up and dedicated on July 13, 1923. It wasn't expected that the sign would be up for more than a year (or until all the houses in the development were sold) but the rise of the film industry in Los Angeles at that time led many to associate the sign with the industry and so it was left up.

But as with anything which is meant to be temporary and ends up lasting much longer than it's 'shelf life' (like the Mir space station), it began to fall into a state of disrepair. The sign was originally built from wood and was studded with nearly 4,000 lightbulbs but as the sign remained, it became more of an eye sore than an icon. By the early 1940's the sign had become so dilapidated that it was falling apart and read "HuLLYWO D" as the letters began to fall or fall apart. By 1949 it was determined that the sign should be repaired and upgraded to make it more permanent. But because the costs were seen to be high to maintain a sign that read "Hollywoodland" it was decided that that the "land" would be dropped and thus the "Hollywood" sign was born.

Now like many people who have seen the movie "The Rocketeer", we were always under the assumption that the sign always read "Hollywoodland" until some secret spy ended up crashing his stolen rocket-pack into the sign and blowing up the "land" portion though that ended up not being the case. Although in the early 1940's (prior to the restoration of the sign) the original caretaker of the sign (Albert Kothe) did knock over the "H" when driving through the area (drunk) and hitting the sign late one evening. Although the restoration was successful, the letters that replaced the originals were still made of wood and metal and by the 1970's the sign was again in a state of disrepair.

Then in 1978 the city of Los Angeles decided to seek donations to repair and restore the sign and so each letter was replaced at a cost of approximately $27,777 dollars (for a grand total of $250,000) by some of Hollywood's luminaries at the time. The donors included Alice Cooper (who dedicated the letter "O" to Groucho Marx), Gene Autry, Hugh Hefner, Andy Williams, and Warner Brothers Records (among others). The letters in this go around were made of more durable materials and now nearly 30 years after they were initially restored, the sign continues to shine as a symbol of the films and fantasy that have come to represent Hollywood.