The Hollywood sign is one of the most famous signs in the world and is a known historic landmark. There’s a fantastic history behind the sign and interesting facts that a lot of people are unaware of.
History
In 1923 the original sign was built as ‘HOLLYWOODLAND’ as an illuminated advertisement for a neighborhood that was being developed called ‘hollywoodland’. It was in place as a temporary advertisement with the schedule of it only being up for 18 months whilst Hollywoodland lots were sold. The advertisement sign was in place to encourage new home owners into the developing neighborhood.
1944 was the year that saw the City of Los Angeles purchase 455 acres from the developers of Hollywoodland (this includes the land where the sign actually sits). It was decided 5 years later after the City of Los Angeles bought the land that the sign would be taken down. However, this was objected by the local residents.
The city along with the Chamber of Commerce came to an agreement to get rid of ‘LAND’ from the sign to make it ‘HOLLYWOOD’. This was so the sign represented the community as opposed to the real estate development. ‘LAND’ was removed from the sign in 1949.
In 1973 the sign was becoming rusty and 5 years later, it was decided it was time to take that sign down and replace!
1978 saw the demolishion of the sign and a new one built. This wasn't a cheap process so Hugh Hefner held a fundraiser at the well-known Playboy Mansion to raise money for the renovation of the sign. Each letter was auctioned for $27,500.
Below are the sponsors of each of the letters:
H- Terrence Donnelly (a newspaper publisher)
O- Alice Cooper (rock star)
L- Les Kelley (businessman and creator of the Kelley Blue Book)
L- Gene Autrey (singer and actor)
Y- Hugh Hefner (founder of Playboy magazine)
W- Andy Williams (singer)
O-Giovanni Mazza (Italian movie producer)
O- Warner Bros. Studios
D-Thomas Pooley
Interesting facts:
The old sign sat at 50ft tall and was made of 3' x 9' panels and painted white
4,000 20-watt light bulbs were mounted to illuminate the sign
Construction of the original sign cost approx. $21,000 which is equivalent to $250,000 in 2013 dollars.
The original sign was held up with a very complex framing system that included wooden scaffold, pipes, wires & poles.
The new 'HOLLYWOOD' sign is 4 stories tall and weighs 480,000 lbs = 218 tonne!!
The Sign now stands at:
H 45 ft. high by 33 ft. 6 inches wide
O 45 ft. high by 33 ft. wide
L 45 ft. high by 31 ft. wide
L 45 ft. high by 31 ft. wide
Y 45 ft. high by 35 ft. wide
W 45 ft. high by 39 ft. 9 inches wide
O 45 ft. high by 33 ft. wide
O 45 ft. high by 33 ft. wide
D 45 ft. high by 33 ft. wide
http://hollywoodsign.org/fast-facts/
http://www.compellingsigns.com/blog-famous-signs.html
https://www.signs.com/blog/20-fun-facts-about-the-hollywood-sign/
