June 08, 2015

Struth! The 'land' of Hollywood


 

IN his continuing search for the more weird, wacky and wondrous in the world of  travel, David Ellis says that what's one of the most-photographed signs in the world – HOLLYWOOD on the side of Mt Lee outside Los Angeles – was put up 92 years ago… as a temporary 18 months promotion for a new housing estate.

 

And it originally spelt-out HOLLYWOODLAND when put up in 1923, with 4,000 20-watt lights set into its thirteen letters, that were each 9 metres wide and 13 metres tall, and stretching a-near 140 metres across the hillside.

 

At night they blinked "Holly," followed by "wood" and finally "land,"  with the "land" eventually removed in 1945, and bizarrely a full-time caretaker was needed to everyday clamber over each letter to replace scores of globes that had blown overnight.

 

Interestingly the first movie company to call Hollywood home was a small Chicago-based maker that moved there in 1907, frustrated at being unable to complete a shoot because of its home-city's erratic weather; within just five years some fifteen others had followed, realising how ideal Hollywood was for film-making.

 

The rest, as they say, is history – including 90-odd years' resistance by local residents to successfully thwart developers wanting to build roads up to the sign, and to surround it with restaurants, cafés and observation platforms… so that today it can still only be viewed from a distance.

 

                                                           …………………

 

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

 

[] THE original sign spelled-out HOLLYWOODLAND and was intended to promote a new housing estate for a temporary 18 months.

[] FOR 92 years local residents have thwarted attempts by developers to build roads up to the HOLLYWOOD sign, and to surround it with restaurants, cafés and observation platforms.

 

(Images: discoverlosangeles.com)

 


No comments:

Support Traveloscopy - Support Responsible Travel.

Traveloscopy is a freelance journalism enterprise supporting the tourism and travel industries. We aim to encourage people to travel thoughtfully and responsibly and also support sustainable initiatives within the travel sector. You can help us cover our operating costs, even if in just a small way.

Last 30 Days' Most Popular Posts