A Brief History of Hollywood

A billboard. Simply a billboard.

Long before it became the symbol of the movie industry, the Hollywood Sign had another, more prosaic purpose — an (admittedly blockbuster-sized) advertisement for a housing development.

Over the years, of course, the world took notice, and the status of the former Hollywoodland Sign evolved, as did the film industry that the soon-to-be Hollywood Sign came to represent.

Beyond the show business iconography, however, the story of the Hollywood Sign — its ups & downs, modifications, decay, and reconstruction — is a reflection of the times, the story of a town, an industry, a country.

Sometimes a sign is not simply a sign.