The Hollywood sign: An LA story of local kid making good

The Hollywood sign's long history began with the Hollywoodland sign, a billboard advertising new real estate in the Santa Monica mountains above Hollywood.

(Credit: Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library/Hollwood Sign Trust)

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- It's hard to believe that a bunch of corrugated steel could be so famous. But when that bunch is nine letters that are 45 feet tall, and that combine to stretch 400 feet across, you get what is likely the world's most recognizable sign.

This is, of course, the Hollywood sign, a universal image representing the entertainment industry, and a monument that literally towers over Tinseltown.

The Hollywood sign's long history of glory and decrepitude (pictures)

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