[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 20, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E589-E590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN

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                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2023

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the iconic Hollywood 
Sign in Hollywood, California. This year, the Hollywood Chamber of 
Commerce and Hollywood Sign Trust will celebrate the Hollywood Sign on 
its Centennial Anniversary as one of Los Angeles's memorable historical 
landmarks.
  The Hollywood Sign will celebrate its centennial on December 8, 2023. 
In December 1923, a large sign spelling out the word Hollywoodland was 
illuminated by an array of lightbulbs on top of Mount Lee in Hollywood. 
The sign, with its over-forty-foot-tall letters, was created as a 
revolutionary form of advertising for a new housing development in the 
Hollywood Hills.
  Although the Hollywood Sign originally represented a new beginning 
for residents of Los Angeles up in the gleaming Hollywood Hills, the 
sign also began to capture the limelight, a symbol of the emerging film 
industry within the area and throughout California.
  In 1938, the sign was reflective of positive change when the 20 acres 
behind Mount Lee, which is named after renowned entrepreneur Don Lee, 
became the location of the Don Lee Network that broadcast a vast range 
of televised programming including remotely filmed and in-studio shows. 
After the Hollywoodland housing development fell through, the sign fell 
into disrepair, stirring debates about tearing it down. Fortunately, as 
owners of the sign, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce stepped up to 
repair and reimagine the sign by removing the last four letters--at 
which point the Hollywood Sign was born.
  Thirty years later in the mid-1970's, the Hollywood Sign, which had 
been made a cultural landmark, began to fall apart again. However, with 
a renovation fund campaign led by Hugh Hefner and others in 1978, the 
Hollywood Chamber once again restored the sign to its now amazing 
stature.
  Other memorable moments in the sign's history include the 1997 
photoshoot of Michelle Yeoh, who daringly performed a stunt in a 
helicopter over the sign for a National Geographic cover story. Then in 
2013, the sign became the backdrop for a photo of the beloved mountain 
lion, P-22, who was captured roaming the trails in the Hollywood Hills.
  The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Hollywood Sign Trust will 
celebrate the Hollywood Sign on its 100th birthday throughout 2023 and 
2024. These celebrations will highlight the transformation of the sign 
from a real estate marketing effort to a cultural monument, beloved 
community icon and global symbol of glamor and imagination.
  I am proud to recognize the Hollywood Sign upon its 100th Anniversary 
and I ask all Members of Congress to join me today in honoring this 
timeless icon.

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