The Hollywood Sign turns 100!

 

 

#107 November 10: Another icon turns 100:  The Hollywood Sign.  The first 2 times I went to Los Angeles, I looked for it, and never got a view, so its not as prominent as Easterners might think.  The 3^rd time was the charm and the last time we were in LA we visited our friends Matt and Kate Simmons (the Wassum’s daughter) and their lovely home sits on a hill across the valley from the sign and has a view of it from almost every room of the house.  I did not know the “whole” history of the sign until reading an article in today’s paper.  I did know this; the sign originally said “Hollywoodland”.  It was constructed in 1923 to advertise a new housing development and was lit up.  The housing development was “Caucasians only”.  UGH, but definitely a historical anachronism.  Today there is a trust that maintains the sign.  Hugh Hefner and Alice Cooper have been instrumental in raising money for the trust at least twice.  Plans to have a big Centennial celebration were nixed because of the actors’ strike and a big push to use public money to address the homeless population vs. an “inanimate object”.  The neighborhood around the sign (I guess the original white one – and I’d guess it’s still pretty tony and white) actually hates the sign, especially on the times it is lit (a political hot potato because of sign ordinances) because it brings “riff-raff” and tourists to their neighborhood.  The trust is trying to obtain land to build a visitors’ center to partially alleviate that problem.  It pains me to know the sign has a racial history. 11/4

I wonder how much THAT house is worth?!!

The Hollywood sign from Kate's rooftop deck