Hollywood sign
The Hollywood sign is an iconic landmark located in Los Angeles, originally erected in 1923 as an advertisement for a real estate development called Hollywoodland. Built by film director Mack Sennett and newspaper publisher Harry Chandler, the sign was designed to attract new residents to the area and consisted of large sheet metal letters, illuminated by thousands of bulbs. Over the years, it evolved from a mere billboard into a symbol of the American film industry, representing the glamour and allure of Hollywood.
The sign's history includes a tragic event in 1932, when actress Peg Entwistle reportedly took her life by jumping from the "H." By the late 1930s, the real estate project had failed, leading to neglect of the sign until the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce intervened to preserve it. The original sign was replaced in 1978 with a larger structure that continues to draw visitors today. Managed by the Hollywood Sign Trust since 1992, the sign remains a powerful emblem of the entertainment industry, reflecting both its storied past and ongoing cultural significance.
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Hollywood sign
The Hollywood sign was constructed as a billboard designed to attract those moving into the area in the 1920s. The sign quickly became a world-famous landmark, synonymous with the American motion picture industry and serving as a physical representation of celebrity, wealth, and power.
In 1923, a fifty-foot-tall sign spelling “Hollywoodland” was erected as an advertisement for a real estate development in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. The development investors heading the sign project were noted film director Mack Sennett and newspaper publisher Harry Chandler. The sign’s construction involved sheet metal panels, scaffolding, pipes, and telephone poles dragged up Mount Lee. Originally, there was also a large dot positioned one hundred feet below the sign. The dot and the letters glowed with four thousand lightbulbs, whose replacement and maintenance necessitated the attention of a full-time caretaker who lived in a cottage near the sign.
The sign was visible for 25 miles, and it quickly became a local landmark. As the 1920s progressed, the sign came to be a tourist attraction and later achieved notoriety in 1932 as the suicide site of young actor Lillian Millicent “Peg” Entwistle, who allegedly climbed a workman’s ladder to the top of the H and jumped to her death.
By 1939, the Hollywoodland real estate development had failed, and the sign was no longer maintained. Due to the sign’s dilapidated state, the City of Los Angeles Parks Department decided to tear it down. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce saved it from demolition, however, agreeing to repair the “Hollywood” part of the sign and to remove the “land” letters. After this initial improvement, the sign underwent various restorations and repairs, often supported by celebrities. In 1978, the original sign was demolished and replaced with a sign that was 4 stories high, 450 feet long, 480,000 pounds, and anchored by 194 tons of concrete. The Hollywood Sign Trust was created in 1992 to maintain and secure the sign, which was outfitted with an around-the-clock surveillance system.
Impact
Much has changed in the film industry since the birth of Hollywood, but the Hollywood sign continues to serve as a tangible reminder of the formative years of the Los Angeles motion picture industry during the 1920s and an expression of the glamour, fame, and fortune associated with Hollywood society and the motion picture industry.
Bibliography
Braudy, Leo. The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2011.
Wallace, David. Lost Hollywood. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.