Hollywood Sign

For decades, the Hollywood Sign has watched over Los Angeles from Mount Lee, a symbol of the filmmaking capital of the world. First built as the Hollywoodland Sign to advertise a housing development in 1923, the sign fell into disrepair and was entirely reconstructed in the 1970s to preserve it for generations to come.

This specimen consists of two samples from the original 1923 sign salvaged during the reconstruction: a piece of metal from the lettering, and a piece of wood from the support beams that held up the sign. The material was acquired from the private collection of a retired LA sound engineer. Together they stood alongside each other for over fifty years before being salvaged in the 1970s reconstruction effort.