Note: This is an encore post from 2014.

Sightseeing has long been the lifeblood of Hollywood and Los Angeles. Long before Gray Line Tours or even any of its poorer knockoffs came along, companies offered sightseeing around these areas, particularly those neighborhoods where movie stars or celebrities were known to live or work. Many companies printed and sold maps listing homes of the stars. Some sold lovely little lithographic brochures giving history, statistics and stories of the area, along with addresses and representative photographs. “The Key to Hollywood” was one such tourist souvenir, trying to promote a little more high-class tour of attractions.

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce issued its first publication in December 1888 playing up the area, called “Los Angeles County — Facts and Figures From the Chamber of Commerce.” This bland, straightforward item soon gave way to elaborately produced, eye-catching images and brochures filled with hyperbole, luring tourists and hopefully residents to the golden city. Local organizations distributed and mailed out this colorful literature for decades, creating the myth of the ideal location in which to settle, filled with perfect weather, abundant citrus and other crops, and an exciting place to put down roots, as Tom Zimmerman elaborates in his book, “Paradise Promoted: The Booster Campaign That Created Los Angeles 1870-1930.”

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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