The sign is first attested in business correspondence in the 1770s as a scribal abbreviation "p s", referring to the Spanish American peso, that is, the "Spanish dollar" as it was known in British North America. These late 18th- and early 19th-century manuscripts show that the s gradually came to be written over the p developing a close equivalent to the "$" mark, and this new …

1940s. In the '40s, the theater was the second-run house of the Orpheum Circuit.Acts such as the Nat King Cole Trio, and Joe Liggins and The Honey Drippers performed on its stage. In 1949, the Million Dollar was taken over by Frank Fouce, a local Spanish-language theater owner and film distributor.The Million Dollar Theater became the mecca of Spanish-language entertainment in …