Sign of ANEYESORE

It is probably fitting that Los Angeles’ most recognizable landmark, the HOLLYWOOD sign, is the remnant of an advertisement for a real-estate development. When erected in the 1920s the sign said HOLLYWOODLAND, the name of a housing development on the slope just below it. Eventually the LAND was torn down, and the sign assumed the civic significance that in other places resides in buildings, statues or notable natural features.

In 1978 the original weather-beaten sign was refurbished at great expense, and it retained its new luster for several years thereafter. More recently, however, it has become the object of artistic endeavors both permanent and temporary. Three times in the last several years organized groups have used bedsheets to make the sign spell something different: HOLLYWEED on one occasion, GO NAVY on another and, on New Year’s morning, RAFFEYSOD.

The bedsheets have the advantage of being removable. The graffiti that began marring the sign a couple of years ago are not so easy to get rid of; they were painted over just before the Olympics, but are now starting to return. If nothing is done it is only a matter of time before a handful of miscreants will again turn the sign into an eyesore.

It’s hard to be in high dudgeon (or even low dudgeon, for that matter) about 50-foot-high letters on the side of a mountain, but, after all, it’s the only sign that we have. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which oversees the sign, ought to do something to help preserve it.