There are a few cultural landmarks everyone knows: the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Big Ben in London. The Taj Mahal. The Pyramids. The Great Wall. But none of them has the charm, the spunk, and the inauspicious beginnings of the “Hollywood” sign, a word that’s become synonymous with Los Angeles and entertainment at large.

I’ll admit: I may be biased. I’m a working screenwriter.

I came to Los Angeles in 2015 after a decade in Hong Kong, where I worked at an investment bank, then managed a shipping business, all the while moonlighting as a magazine columnist. But the lasting effect of all this on me was to whisper vague proclamations in my ear about “making it” – so I quit my suit-and-tie job, boarded a Cathay Pacific flight, and ended up in La La Land with a few dollars in my pocket and a head full of ideas.

It’s not exactly the wide-eyed-country-bumpkin-moves-to-the-big-city rags-to-riches narrative, but hey, reboots always need something modern. And you’d better believe that both bumpkin and I looked up at that big sign below the sky and said to ourselves, “You’re doing it, kid. You’re in Hollywood. The place where dreams come true.”

As I spoilered to you in the first paragraph, the Hollywood sign did not begin as this monolith of the entertainment industry. It didn’t even say “Hollywood”.

It said “Hollywoodland”, and was erected in 1923 by publisher and real-estate developer Harry Chandler. His reasons were pure American commerce: it was advertising the name of a new housing development in the hills above LA’s Hollywood district. But he did it in the most showbiz way he could, with giant letters attached to telephone poles illuminated by 4,000 light bulbs. The sign would light up bit by bit: “Holly” then “Wood” then “Land”, then, in all its glory, “Hollywoodland” for the masses to see.

Just like a film set, the sign was meant to be temporary. Chandler would have it up for 18 months, people would buy into the development, and the sign would come down. But something magical happened: people loved it. The attention it brought, combined with the growing influence of Hollywood in American filmmaking, were the right recipe. By popular demand, the sign remained: it turns 100 this year.