The iconic ‘HOLLYWOOD’ sign has loomed over La La Land for almost a century, inspiring overseas wannabes to “sign” up with homegrown copies.

Hurray for HOLLYWOOD signs – may they be fruitful and multiply! And multiply they have, though the “original” itself is a shortened version of a “HOLLYWOODLAND” sign erected in 1923 to advertise an under-construction housing development. As time passed and the sign became symbolic of Tinseltown, municipalities far and wide were moved to stick their own monikers on the nearest available mountainside. The “RASNOV” sign above, situated a little too conspicuously in front of a 13th-century fortress in Transylvania, salutes the rugged region’s recent prominence as a major motion picture filming location.

The above images of the RASNOV sign date from between 2008 and 2010, and were photographed by Flickr members Bogdan Morar, Horia Varlan, and Inmobiliaria Lares, respectively.

BRASOV-wood?

Not to be outdone by its upstart next-door neighbor, the much larger town of Brasov erected its own white-block-letter sign celebrating, er, the rugged region’s recent prominence as a major motion picture filming location.

To Brasovians’ credit, their sign doesn’t intrude upon the scenic view of any medieval castles so it’s got that going for it, which is nice. Flickr members Chris Booth (monkeypuzzle) and ccarlstead snapped the snazzy ‘sylvanian sign while visiting Romania a decade ago.

Moratilla of La Mancha

Less than 100 people live in the quaint Castilian village of Moratilla de los Meleros, according to the most recent census taken back in 2004. Size doesn’t matter when it comes to having a “HOLLYWOOD” sign, however.

Captured in 2008 by Flickr member sécolectivoforzoso, the town also boasts streets dubbed “Hollywood Blvd”, “Sunset Blvd” and “Melrose Ave.” All par for the course since Hollywood and Moratilla became Sister Cities in 2008, prompting the latter to play its part by getting the letters out.

Perth Of A Nation

Is a mountain backdrop really necessary for a HOLLYWOOD-style sign? Maybe not – we see you nodding, city of Perth – but it sure doesn’t hurt. The photo above, taken by Flickr member Michael_Spencer in August of 2006, seems to link the sign with a Red Bull air race held over the foreshore of the Western Australian town.

“It’s only a temporary structure,” noted Flickr member David Fisher (Pgd) in November of 2007 but much like the large, block-lettered “3D TORONTO” sign, Perth’s self-titled homage to all things Hollywood may have grown too popular to remove.

Modest Model

Everything may be big in Texas but here in the model village of Bekonscot, things are smaller than life – and that’s by design. Bekonscot was conceived and constructed by Roland Callingham of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, UK in the pre-war era and Callingham, who passed away in 1961, is buried there. That’s his memorial stone above, overlooked by the model village’s miniature HOLLYWOOD-esque sign, as captured by Flickr member Matt Brown in July of 2018.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Tinsel Towns 10 International Hollywood Sign Homages

These 12 modern homages to Stonehenge would likely bemuse, befuddle and bewilder those who constructed the original prehistoric standing stone circle.

Much like the original Stonehenge built roughly 5,000 years ago, these so-called “Clonehenges” were built for reasons that aren’t always obvious. Take the quite realistic standing “stones” above.

Even if they were to survive in situ for several thousand years, it’s extremely doubtful future archaeologists would deduce they were merely props used in the movie Transformers: The Last Knight. Already in the can and scheduled to be released on June 23rd of 2017, the hollow faux Stonehenge was constructed not too far from its real-world model in Wiltshire, UK.

Stonehenge In Africa

Stonehenge in Africa? It’s more likely than you think at this riverside lodge, conference and team-building venue in Parys, Gauteng, South Africa.

To quote the company website, “As Guests enter Stonehenge, they are greeted by (a) large replication of the celebrated Stonehenge Monument.” OK, so the stones are obviously machine-cut and don’t look more than a few months old but keep it to yourself: you’re here to build a team, not an ancient ceremonial site.

Stonehenge of Orem’s Stonehenge, Utah

Self-described as “A Place of Healing”, Stonehenge of Orem is a small (36 beds) assisted living facility for the elderly located in American Fork just west of Orem, Utah.

Built in 2012, the home’s henge is smaller than its inspiration both in breadth and height though at least the designers resisted the urge to smooth out the rough spots. We’ll leave the debate over whether an ancient monument, fake or not, is appropriate decor for the grounds of an old age home to others.

Stonehenge in Hefei, China

China is infamous for recreating other nations’ cultural properties (the Eifel Tower, London Bridge and an entire Austrian alpine town named Hallstatt come to mind) and indeed, there are several fake Stonehenges in China. Typical of the genre is this ersatz Stonehenge in Hefei, Anhui province.

The actual reproduced stones and layout are actually better than most but when it comes to context, well… let’s just say that a major part of the real Stonehenge’s mystical grandeur derives from its relative isolation. Somehow the sight of modern highrise apartments in the near background detracts from the overall sense of wonder any monument should inspire. Dudes, do you even henge?

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Druid Awakening A Dozen Hard Rockin Modern Stonehenges

Acquiring a KFC franchise doesn’t appear to be that difficult. Appearances may deceive, however, as do these dozen absolutely unauthorized KFC wannabes.

OFC: Change We Can’t Believe In

(images via: The China Times, CoCoas.net and ViralSlam)

Tea Party types might have stuck with KFC (Kenya Fried Chicken) but the Chinese student-entrepreneurs behind OFC were less concerned with birth certificates, not to mention other legalities. Located near Beijing Aerospace City College, OFC sought to trump a mere Kentucky Colonel by evoking the head honcho, the Commander in Chief, the Big O himself. Speaking of legal issues, it seems KFC won a small victory by forcing the shop to change its name to UFO. Yeah, that really helped.

Kennedy Fried Chicken: KFC + JFK

(images via: Jessica Port, Deephouse Page and Jason Klamm)

From one president to another, it’s a coop d’etat! Kennedy Fried Chicken was founded in 1975 by Afghan immigrant Taeb Zia, who named his restaurant after JFK “because Afghans are fond of the former president.” The first store opened in New York City’s Flatbush neighborhood and these days most of the roughly 1,000 outlets are owned by Afghan-Americans. Kennedy Fried Chicken‘s unusually loose control over its franchisees has occasionally brought the chain into conflict with KFC, usually when the owners paint their stores with red & white paint and employ “KFC” on their signage.

FCK’n Good Chicken!

Located in Haiyuan, north-central China’s Ningxia province, FCK “Tea and Hamburger” means no offense in their ongoing effort to serve Fried Chicken Kentucky-style, along with tea and hamburgers (also presumably Kentucky-style). Full props to English teacher Alison Lentz for discovering the joy of FCK and photo-documenting its graffiti-scarred existence on her blog.

SFC: “Exclusive To Iceland”

(image via: MaltaSupermarket)

“I gave my love a bucket, that had no bones…” There ain’t nowhere you can hide when a peeved Colonel’s on your tail, and that includes Iceland (the nation or the British supermarket). SFC‘s Take Home Boneless Bucket above doesn’t display a Viking-ized version of Harlan Sanders, which is unfortunate, because that would be awesome! It does allude to KFC via the branding copy, however, offering buyers “Original pieces of Tasty reformed Succulent Crispy Chicken… coated with a Southern Fried style coating made to Our Secret Recipe of Herbs & Spices”. Tasty reformed chicken, huh? Sounds scrumptious.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Kickin The Bucket 12 Outrageous Fake Kfc Restaurants