The iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles turns 100 years old today and will be illuminated with its original lights to celebrate the anniversary.
On December 8, 1923, the sign – reading “Hollywoodland” – was first illuminated to advertise a luxury residential real estate project in the Hollywood Hills – the sign was shortened to “Hollywood” in the 1940s.
The sign will be relit tonight with some of the original 1923 lights, and two smaller replicas will recreate how it once blinked into the night as “Hollywoodland.” KTL reported.
The nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust is preserving the monument and provided the sign with a new coat of paint before the big day.
The birthday makeover required 400 liters of white paint.
The iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles turns 100 years old today and will be illuminated with its original lights to celebrate the anniversary
The sign will be relit tonight with some of the original lights from 1923, and two smaller replicas will recreate how it once blinked into the night as “Hollywoodland.”
The nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust is preserving the monument and provided the sign with a new coat of paint before the big day. The birthday makeover required 400 liters of white paint.
The original version of the sign was lit at night with the help of a German immigrant named Albert Kothe, who maintained the 4,000 light bulbs
LA Times publisher Harry Chandler built the billboard a century ago for $21,000.
Chandler was responsible for many more iconic 20th century SoCal landmarks, including the LA Coliseum, the Biltmore Hotel, the Hollywood Bowl and the California Institute of Technology.
Each letter of the LA monument is 45 feet high and at least 30 feet wide, making it hard to miss as you explore the city of the stars.
In 1923, workers used mules to drag the enormous wood and sheet metal letters up the slope to where the sign now stands.
The original version of the sign was lit at night with the help of a German immigrant named Albert Kothe, who maintained the 4,000 light bulbs.
The sign was intended for only a year and a half and has survived ever since. It has become one of America's most recognizable landmarks, reflecting the greatness of an industry irrevocably linked to Americana and the golden age of cinema.
By the 1970s, however, the sign had fallen into disrepair, during a decade that marked a temporary downturn in Hollywood and its lifeline film industry – fueled in part by the then-new rise of television and other home entertainment.
After years of neglect, the sign's now legendary letters had lost their distinctive luster and fell into disrepair.
On December 8, 1923, the sign – reading 'Hollywoodland' – was first illuminated to advertise a luxury residential real estate project in the Hollywood Hills – the sign was shortened to 'Hollywood' in the 1940s
The sign was intended to last for only a year and a half and has survived ever since. It has become one of America's most recognizable landmarks, reflecting the greatness of an industry irrevocably linked to Americana and the golden age of cinema.
Each letter of the LA monument is 45 feet high and at least 30 feet wide, making it hard to miss as you explore the city of the stars. In 1923, workers used mules to drag the huge wood and sheet metal letters up the slope to where the sign now stands
By the late 1970s, several letters of the sign had fallen over or fallen to pieces, and it seemed that the monument would follow the Seven Wonders of the World and become nothing more than a relic of an earlier era.
Thanks to an unlikely savior, the sign was eventually saved, but not before it was completely demolished and transformed.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hefner, then 52 years old, organized a lavish fundraiser and auctioned off letters from the old sign for $27,000 each.
Notable buyers included rock stars like Alice Cooper and actors like Gene Autry, who eventually earned enough money to restore the sign with new letters – the letters that are still there today.
After these efforts, The Hollywood Hills essentially sat vacant, without its signature decorations, for about three months until the chamber could physically replace it with the new sign.
Hollywood would then experience a period of prosperity for the next three decades, during which time the film industry would grow to a semblance of its former glory.
During this period, as is customary today, the sign was cleaned periodically every ten years to maintain its emblematic shine.
The Daily Mail was given exclusive access a week before the anniversary to admire the dazzling, more than 12 meters high letters up close.
Not many people can boast of climbing over the Hollywood Sign, which is not open to the general public.
Members of the public who enter the sign's area may be arrested and subject to a fine of up to $10,000.