The Hollywood Sign sits high on Mount Lee, its white letters visible across Los Angeles. Built in 1923 as a real-estate advertisement for Hollywoodland, it outlived its intended campaign and became an emblem of the film capital it once merely promoted.
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The letters are so familiar that it is easy to forget they began as advertising. In 1923, the Hollywoodland real-estate development erected the sign on Mount Lee to promote new homes in the hills. The Hollywood Sign Trust notes that it was intended to last only about eighteen months.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The Hollywoodland sign was erected in 1923.
- It originally advertised a real-estate development.
- The sign was rebuilt in 1978 after a public fundraising effort.
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