When it comes to signs in the world, it is perhaps fair to say that the Hollywood one is the most famous to have ever existed. It must have appeared in so many TV shows, movies, and holidaymaker snapshots over the years. For many, it is the symbol of the Hollywood dream of becoming a star, and indeed its significance in this area cannot be under-estimated.
So, people would be rather surprised to discover that the sign itself didn’t always say just Hollywood.
Its origins stretch back to July 1923. On Friday 13th, there was an inauguration ceremony held in Griffith Park to commemorate the unveiling of a sign in Los Angeles. The sign was to represent the development of a residential setting by H.J. Whitely. Its name? Hollywoodland.
Yep, the sign that we now recognize as saying Hollywood used to have a ‘land’ part added on the end, and it also had nothing to do with the movie business whatsoever.
We have no idea when it lost the ‘land’ part of the sign, and we also have no idea when it came to represent Hollywood and the movie business. But then, can you now ever imagine it changing or standing for anything other than that Hollywood dream?