Origin[]
| Original 'LAND' of the HOLLYWOODLAND Sign | |
|---|---|
| |
| "Hooray for Hollywood, amiright?" | |
|
Origin |
Hollywood Land Sign |
|
Type |
Sign |
|
Effects |
Spectral Illumination |
|
Downsides |
Projection of Effects |
|
Activation |
Powering |
|
Collected by |
|
|
Section |
|
|
Aisle |
8302-281B |
|
Date of Collection |
16 July 1949 |
| [Source] | |
The Hollywoodland Sign is an American cultural landmark situated on Mount Lee in the Santa Monica Mountains, overlooking Hollywood. The sign is spelled out in 45 ft tall white capital letters and currently runs 350 feet long. Originally, the sign was a marketing advertisement for the real estate development in the hills below of the same name "Hollywoodland," by Woodruff and Shoults. The sign was commissioned by Crescent Sign Company and erected in 1923, and 4,000 lightbulbs were used to outline the letters, which would make the sign flash in segments of "HOLLY," "WOOD," and "LAND," before lighting up altogether.
Though the sign was originally intended to last only 18 months, the rise of American cinema at the time dragged the hillside attraction into a symbol of the town itself. When it was eventually refurbished in 1949, the City of Los Angeles Parks Department and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce partnered to fix it, at the cost of losing the studded lights in addition to the LAND section of the sign, as a reflection of the district rather than the housing development.
When the entire sign was replaced in 1978, the original was assumed to be destroyed, but in 2005 it was publicly discovered and sold to artist Bill Mack.
Effects[]
Imbued with the memory of the Golden Age of Hollywood, when these letters are powered, they lose all dilapidation and shine with the light of their original bulbs, which appear as phantom bulbs on the sign. Interestingly, it also causes the current HOLLYWOOD sign in Los Angeles County to illuminate in the same fashion, flashing between the three sections of sign as if reliving it's glory days.
Collection[]
The four letters of the original sign were collected shortly after their dismantling by Warehouse 13 agents.