The Hollywood sign is literally a nearly-century-old advertisement for a housing subdivision: the original sign (which actually lit up with lightbulbs and spotlights at night) was put up to promote "Hollywoodland", and when the movie industry just so happened to have its golden age in Hollywood, the sign (designed to only stay up for a year and a half) was left up for over FIFTY YEARS with minimal maintenance/repairs. In the end, despite the sign supposedly being owned by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the Parks Department, it was Hollywood celebrities (including Gene Autry, Hugh Hefner, Andy Williams, and Alice Cooper, among others) who ultimately footed the bill in 1978 to have the wood-and-sheet-metal sign replaced with steel letters supported by steel columns on a concrete foundation.
The Hollywood sign is literally a nearly-century-old advertisement for a housing subdivision: the original sign (which actually lit up with lightbulbs and spotlights at night) was put up to promote "Hollywoodland", and when the movie industry just so happened to have its golden age in Hollywood, the sign (designed to only stay up for a year and a half) was left up for over FIFTY YEARS with minimal maintenance/repairs. In the end, despite the sign supposedly being owned by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the Parks Department, it was Hollywood celebrities (including Gene Autry, Hugh Hefner, Andy Williams, and Alice Cooper, among others) who ultimately footed the bill in 1978 to have the wood-and-sheet-metal sign replaced with steel letters supported by steel columns on a concrete foundation.
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