In the 1920s, Los Angeles was booming. Flush with water from the Owen Valley, affordable land, a growing network of roads, and a burgeoning film industry, the city rapidly expanded. One of the changes that took place was the emergence of car culture. The people of Los Angeles took to their cars, so much so that by 1928 there was one car for every 2.9 persons in the city. At the same time, Hollywood was refining the art of making fantasy into reality through movies.
With more people zipping by stores in their cars, businesses explored new ways to attract their attention. One approach was to go big. This is what M. H. Sherman and his business partners did when they constructed the Hollywoodland sign to promote their real estate subdivision. Neon lights also became a popular way of attracting interest starting in the 1920s. One of the more interesting ways businesses caught the attention of the motoring public was through architecture. From the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s, Los Angeles was the hotspot for the rise of novelty or vernacular architecture.
How better to let people know that you sell ice cream then to have a building shaped like an ice cream cone?