Entertainment 101: What is the history of the Hollywood sign?

July 9, 4:20 PMHollywood Events ExaminerI.J. Ross

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The Hollywood sign is Hollywood’s most famous icon, but many people don’t know a lot about the sign’s history, unless they go on one of the many tours of the region.
The sign was built back in 1923 by a man named Harry Chandler, who owned a prestigious, boutique style real estate company. Since his company was at the foot of Mt. Lee, he wanted to have a catchy advertisement at the top of it, to capture the attention of the emerging film industry royalty that worked down below. Construction of the sign was a backbreaking, dangerous undertaking, as the tons of steel, concrete, and wiring needed for the project had to be transported up narrow dirt paths carved into the steep cliffs of Mt. Lee. The sign was originally spelled “Hollywoodland,” and each massive letter was 50’ tall by 30‘s wide and was lit by around 4,000 tiny light bulbs. The total cost? $21,000, which was a large amount of money for the times.
Towards the end of the roaring 20’s, the stock market crash and the Great Depression set in. Soon after that, at the beginning of the 1940’s, America entered WWII, further depleting resources, and sending the Hollywoodland real estate firm into bankruptcy. Indeed, Hollywood itself was experiencing major setbacks as the 5 major film studios’ monopoly on the industry was broken, and TV drew audiences away. By the end of the 40’s, the sign slid into a state of dilapidation. After the war, the economy received a decent boom, and in 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce stepped in and gave the sign a complete facelift, repairing the various forms of damage that the neglected sign had experienced. However, they only agreed to do this if lights were removed, as well as the last 4 letters “land.”
Good times wouldn’t last long however, as the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s weren’t kind to Hollywood. Major celebrity blacklisting, the decentralization of the studios (many had moved to other places such as the Valley), and general strife and decline of the region would lead to the sign experiencing various forms of damage and decay once again. It did receive a moment of prestige as the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board declared it a National Landmark in 1973, but this did little to stop the further erosion of the sign.
Finally, wanting to avoid further embarrassment due to the state of the now internationally known sign, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce came up with a celebrity studded project in order to rescue the world’s number one symbol of the film industry. And in 1978, Hugh Hefner hosted a glamorous fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, and together, with such contributors as entertainers Gene Autry, and rocker Alice Cooper, they raised the $21,700 needed to repair each letter.
This time seeking a more permanent solution to the sign’s woes, it was completely torn down and reconstructed, and 3 months later, towards the end of 1978, a new sign sprang up. It was made with more modern, sturdier materials, ensuring that it would not only last, but would stride proudly into the next century.
These days, the Hollywood sign is protected from vandalism and fire damage by a high tech security system, including alarms, loud speakers, and a closed circuit video system, so mischievous minds beware! If you’d like to view the internet-based security system, check out http://www.hollywoodsign.org/247.html.