This photograph is from Ruscha’s ‘Rooftops Series’, a set of four prints looking down on Los Angeles intersections from a high vantage point. Ruscha has worked in and based much of his work on the unique characteristics of the city since he was a student in the 1950s. He had been working for an advertising agency between North Flores Street and Beverly Boulevard when he took these shots in 1961, early in his career. They run 360 degrees around the roof of his office building where he took his lunch. This image focuses on a billboard sign for ‘Leggett’s’, a furniture store with the optimistic, Californian catchphrase, ‘Have a happy day!’ Although taken in 1961, this photograph was only printed as part of the ‘Rooftops Series’ portfolio in 2004, by which time it had become a memento of Los Angeles’ past.