The Mid-Century Advertising Origins of an Emperor Norton Illustration That Still Is Finding New Life After 50 Years
The mystical “anti-religion” of Discordianism holds the Emperor Norton to be a “Saint Second Class” — a category reserved for human beings.
Probably in late 1970, Discordianism co-founder Greg Hill (1941–2000) a.k.a. Malaclypse the Younger produced the following flyer:
Emperor Norton “Live Like Him” flyer, 1970, by Greg Hill (1941–2000) a.k.a. Malaclypse the Younger. Source: Fédération internationale des centres d'études et de documentation libertaires (FICEDL); includes images of four differently colored versions of the flyer.
In early 2016 — having been aware of this flyer for some time and recently having discovered some documentation for it — I added the flyer to The Emperor Norton Trust’s new digital ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA).
But, I was curious to know who produced the Emperor Norton artwork.
A few months later, in July 2016, I wrote to Adam Gorightly (pen name), the leading archivist and historian of Discordianism, to see what he might know.
Adam had access to enough of Greg Hill’s archive to know that the artwork probably was copied and pasted from a San Francisco newspaper.
Adam quickly wrote up his resources here — and included the following photograph of Greg Hill’s physical newspaper clipping that he believed Hill used to create his old-school copy-and-paste flyer.
Greg Hill’s physical “Emperor Norton Lives” clipping, probably from the San Francisco Chronicle. Concept and artwork by McCann Erickson. Source: Historia Discordia
Adam went on to guess that the “Emperor Norton lives” line was the inspiration for Greg Hill’s “Live Like Him.” But, he didn’t know the specific context of the clipping — or where it was published.
Using this clue, though, I kept on digging and was able to piece together the background.
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BEFORE getting to the goods — five years late! —a quick detour into prehistory.
The show Death Valley Days, an anthology television series of stories of the American West — based on an earlier radio series — began to air in 1952.
The concept for the show was by the advertising firm of McCann Erickson. In recent years, this firm was fictionalized as “McCann” on the television series Mad Men.
Season 4, Episode 21, of Death Valley Days — originally airing on 15 June 1956 — was “Emperor Norton.” The episode is part of The Emperor Norton Trust’s digital ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA). You can view it here.
The “production supervisor” for this episode: Dorothy McCann.
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BACK to 1970…
On 19 August 1970, the “Emperor Norton lives” ad that no one yet knew was an ad appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Emperor Norton lives” item in the San Francisco Chronicle, 19 August 1970, p. 17. Concept and artwork by McCann Erickson. Source: Genealogy Bank
In fact: During the second half of August 1970, readers of a a variety of California newspapers were being told not only that “Emperor Norton lives” but also that “Mark Twain lives”; “Wyatt Earp lives”; “Buffalo Bill lives”; and “Black Bart lives.”
These items appeared (clockwise from top left) in the Redding (Calif.) Record–Searchlight, 18 August 1970, p.11; San Francisco Chronicle, 18 August 1970, p.11; Record–Searchlight, 18 August 1970, p.13; and Fremont (Calif.) Argus, 26 August 1970, p.11. Concept and artwork by McCann Erickson. Sources: Genealogy Bank and Newspapers.com
On 24 August 1970, a business item in the San Francisco Chronicle revealed what all these cryptic messages were about: They were part of a Wells Fargo advertising campaign for a new series of checkbooks and savings passbooks designed “to renew historical ties between the oldest bank in the West and five colorful, flamboyant characters of an early era.”
Bob Barron, “Wild West Teaser Secret Is Out,” San Francisco Chronicle, 24 August 1970, p.53. Source: GenealogyBank
Note the ad firm behind the campaign: McCann Erickson.
The formal rollout began with the following large ad that started running in the San Francisco Chronicle on 1 September 1970…
Wells Fargo rollout for ad campaign promoting “Wild West lives” series of checkbooks and savings passbooks, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 September 1970, p.11. Source: GenealogyBank
…and this one that started running in the Chronicle on September 2nd:
Wells Fargo ad for campaign promoting “Wild West lives” series of checkbooks and savings passbooks, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 September 1970, p.23. Source: GenealogyBank
Ten months later, on 8 July 1971, television screens across the United States started lighting up with another McCann Erickson creation, which went on to become one of the most legendary advertisements in advertising history.
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IN LATE 2020 — almost exactly 50 years after the Wells Fargo “Emperor Norton lives” ad of August 1970 — the graphic artist Terrance Ryan a.k.a. Lil Tuffy breathed new life into the old artwork when he incorporated a colorized version of it in this poster he designed for the Independent Venue Alliance, a nonprofit collective of live music venues in San Francisco that have banded together to support one another during the COVID pandemic.
Poster for the Independent Venue Alliance, 2020, by Terrance Ryan a.k.a. Lil Tuffy (b. 1972). Uses original Emperor Norton artwork from 1970 Wells Fargo ad created by the firm of McCann Erickson. Source: Independent Venue Alliance.
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All the “collateral” using McCann Erickson’s illustration of Emperor Norton is included in The Emperor Norton Trust’s digital ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA).
McCann Erickson’s original teaser ad is in the Archive’s gallery of Paintings, Engravings, Illustrations and Drawings here.
Greg Hill’s flyer and Lil Tuffy’s poster are in the Archive’s Design, Post-Production & Remix gallery here.
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