The Hollywood Sign sits high above the Los Angeles basin, looking down on all the razzle-dazzle of America’s show business town.
Once meant as humble real estate advertising, it has long since made its way to being arguably the most recognized landmark in our wide world. For one hundred years running, those nine large white letters have stood for stardom dreams, all the magic allure of moviemaking—and could a cultural phenomenon ever be more rooted anywhere else than within Hollywood?
The sign is not just some simple structure; it comes to personify a generation’s shared hope by travelers moving into Los Angeles with quests for both fame and fortune within ‘the industry.’ From mere temporary promotion to today’s heavily guarded symbol of heritage, this sign traces change along with echoes of discovery and persistent embodiment paralleling shifts around Tinseltown.
The Hollywood Sign was not originally meant to be anything of cultural touch. In 1923, the Hollywoodland Real Estate Development wanted a catchy ad for their new posh residential development in the hills above Los Angeles.
Their plan was pretty big: build huge 50-foot tall white letters spelling HOLLYWOODLAND across Mount Lee’s slope in the Santa Monica Mountains. Workers carried stuff up the steep ground, and at about $21,000 (more than $300,000 now), the sign went up as a short-term structure meant to last just 18 months while pushing the housing development below.
Each was built of wood, sheet metal, pipes, and wire then thousands of flashing lights would flash in segments – HOLLY, then WOOD, then LAND – before waking up altogether. There’s a little cabin out back of the ‘L’ section wherein squats a caretaker whose job it is to keep the lights operational by replacing burnt-out bulbs frequently.
Building it was difficult, as materials had to be carried up the mountain. The landmark that resulted was instantly recognizable across much of Los Angeles.
The Evolution of the Hollywood Sign
It started as a fleeting ad, but soon got mixed up with the very heart of Hollywood. While the American film business grew strong in the 1920s and 1930s, making Los Angeles known as the world’s entertainment hub, this sign picked up growing symbolic weight.
Even when real estate plans faltered during the Great Depression, the sign stuck around; it lost its links with homes and took on ties to the booming movie trade just below in the valley.
By the late 1940s, the formerly new sign had become ragged. The H was half fallen after a car collision and the whole thing was showing major signs of falling apart.
In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce made a deal with the City of Los Angeles to take away the LAND part and fix up the rest of those HOLLYWOOD letters, officially tying the sign to the district and industry instead of that original housing development.
By the 1970s, though, it came to fall into extreme neglect. The first O had splintered, resembled a small u, and the third O fell at all. Once white as snow now stood a rusted wreck of an eyesore.
In 1978, with the sign deemed so necessary to not only Los Angeles identity but America’s cultural heritage, there was a big push for restoration kicked off by none other than Hugh Hefner held a celebrity fundraiser at his Playboy Mansion where individual letters were supposedly auctioned off for $27,500 apiece to such luminaries as Gene Autry, Andy Williams, Warner Bros. Records, and Alice Cooper.
The sign was taken down completely, and in its place arose a structure that could feasibly be deemed more permanent. Erection utilized steel columns set on concrete foundations with corrugated metal forming the face of each letter.
The new letters attain a height of 45 feet and are engineered according to modern engineering principles so as to resist earthquakes and harsh Southern California elements. It’s the sign right now that stretches 450 feet across the hillside.
A Protected Symbol: Security and Conservation Efforts
Being both a tourist magnet and an icon of culture, adequate protection measures have to be instituted for the Hollywood Sign.
After 1978 reconstruction works, Hollywood Sign Trust came into being as a not-for-profit organization whose duty is to maintain, repair, and secure this landmark.
While the land belongs to Griffith Park and the City of Los Angeles therein lies responsibility with Trust for preservation plus promotion regarding said sign.
In the early years, people could hike right up to the letters. Since then, fences have grown up around it. Today, there are also security cameras, motion detectors, and regular patrols that protect the area immediately surrounding the sign plus a long distance away from it.
High-tech measures include surveillance cameras installed in 2000 recording violations at all times of day and night plus alarms warning police of unauthorized visitors. The sign has enjoyed good maintenance; getting freshly painted approximately every ten years—2012 being the last time when a complete repainting was done made ready for its 90th birthday party coming up soon.
A big conservation win happened in 2010 when the Trust teamed up with conservation groups to buy and save 138 acres roundabout the sign from any sort of building happening on some land that would have messed with those hills everyone loves seeing behind it.
In 2023, a great cleaning and retouching were executed for the centennial celebration of the sign to continue shimmering white against the California hillside as it entered its second century of existence.
Viewing the Icon: How to Experience the Hollywood Sign
Although world-renowned, the Hollywood Sign can prove somewhat mysterious to people. There is no way, as with many other attractions, to get up close to the sign itself as it is fenced and secured within a security system designed for safety over a very steep hillside.
Unfortunately, numerous other spots throughout Los Angeles do justice in terms of views and photographs for that ideal click. The Griffith Observatory is probably the most favored offering an impressive panorama not just of the sign but also of the city basin.
Another good vantage point is at Lake Hollywood Park which offers amenities for families with a direct view of the sign. For those who want something even more dramatic, there is actually a viewing platform located inside the Hollywood and Highland shopping complex.
The more intrepid adventurer can reach the sign through many hiking trails in Griffith Park- among the most heavily trod are Hollyridge, Brush Canyon, and the more difficult Cahuenga Peak Trails which take from one to three hours roundtrip to hike on foot up ever higher into ever grander terrain above Los Angeles below.
As unique as it gets: guided horseback tours offer equestrian-led journeys with sign views through Sunset Ranch. Surprisingly, the Hollywood Sign is not alight at nighttime – in fact, strictly speaking, it has not been lit since its original days when the HOLLYWOODLAND version contained light bulbs.
Ecological sensitivity and neighborhood preference also because the surrounding area is protected wildlife habitat keep sign lighting prohibited after sunset, though invariably on clear nights due to reflected city night glow.
Cultural Impact and Iconic Status
Few structures anywhere have attained anything like the symbolic resonance of the Hollywood Sign. It shows up in hundreds of motion pictures and television programs as visual shorthand for Los Angeles and the entire entertainment industry.
When moviemakers want to establish that a story takes place in Los Angeles, a brief shot of the sign is still the most efficient way by which this will be immediately recognized by audiences all over the world.
It’s been at the center of some of Hollywood’s biggest disaster epics, from the first rumbles in the opening credits of Earthquake (1974), to its obliteration in the likes of The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and, most recently, San Andreas (2015).
One of the earliest cinematic references to the sign is offered by the comedy Earthquake in 1974, where under special effects of sound and appearance the sign collapses during a tremor.
Apart from cinema, it acts as a catalyst for imitations all over the world. From the WELLINGTON sign in New Zealand to Dollywood, Tennessee’s HOLLYWOOD sign in Dollywood, communities have built their tribute or tourist attraction or even a playful parody of the original.
Renowned staggered letters on a hill have become visualized which has been reused countless times. The sign has also been temporarily altered for promotional purposes, though access to such alterations is now strictly controlled.
In 1987, it was changed to HOLLYWOOD II in order to promote the film Hollywood II. In 1992, it was changed to read OIL WOOD as a protest against the Gulf War. Such modifications are now expressly forbidden because the sign’s protected status has increased.
The Future of an American Icon
As it entered its second century in 2023, issues about future preservation, access and interpretation of the Hollywood Sign continue to change. Climate change brings new threats with wildfire danger in the hills around increased by