Today’s famous Hollywood neighborhood emerged as a new housing estate funded by entrepreneur H.J. Whitley (Father of Hollywood).
On July 13, 1923, the distinctive HOLLYWOOD sign was placed on the slopes of Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles. Today, this inscription has the status of a cultural monument and is legally protected. It was originally set up as an ordinary advertisement and there was no intention of it being permanently in that place. The HOLLYWOOD sign was supposed to advertise a new residential area of that name that was created on the outskirts of Los Angeles, and whose construction was financed by entrepreneur H.J. Whitley, known today as the Father of Hollywood. So today the famous Hollywood district originated as an entrepreneurial venture of this man and was located near the slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains. Many today mistakenly think that Hollywood means sacred forest, but the English word for sacred is written with only one letter L (holy). The word holly in English means holly bush (lat. Ile), a famous Christmas decoration.
Hollywood has become a kind of elite neighborhood, as are other parts of Los Angeles located on the edge of a mountainous area (Beverly Hills, Bel Air, etc.). Hollywood gained world fame only when it became the center of the American film industry. The HOLLYWOOD sign was placed at the beginning of the Golden Age of the Hollywood film industry. The sign originally said HOLLYWOODLAND, but the LAND extension was later removed. The letters are as high as 14 meters, and the entire inscription is 110 meters long. The original caption was supposed to last only 18 months, but it became recognizable in the film industry, so it was decided to stay still. Since they were not supposed to last, the letters began to decay and after about 50 years the inscription was in ruins. It wasn’t until 1979 that the letters were restored, with a donation from famous people like Hugh Hefner of Playboy and musician Alice Cooper. Today, the inscription is protected by a fence against vandalism.
