TO HONOR THE LIFE + ADVANCE THE LEGACY OF JOSHUA ABRAHAM NORTON
RESEARCH • EDUCATION • ADVOCACY
At the suggestion and request of The Emperor Norton Trust, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University has corrected its description of a carte de visite photograph by Jacob Shew that was misidentified as being possibly of Emperor Norton.
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The House of Shields, in San Francisco, is the traditional site of the Tannenbaum Toast. This is the bar c.1950s. We hope to return in 2023. Photograph courtesy of Heather David.
The annual holiday party of The Emperor Norton Trust celebrates the legend that it was Emperor Norton who originally called for the raising of a great tree in Union Square every Yuletide season. (Another apocryphal tale, alas!)
The celebration traditionally takes place on the second Sunday of December in the mezzanine of the historic House of Shields bar, in San Francisco.
This year, we gather via Zoom. The Tenth Annual Tannenbaum Toast takes place on Sunday 11 December at 4:45 p.m. Pacific — and at all related times around the world.
The traditional drink is the Boothby cocktail.
Zoom link on the flip!
Read MoreAt the end of May 2022, eight historians of San Francisco sent a letter to former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown urging the Mayor to publicly support The Emperor Norton Trust’s proposal that the California state legislature pass a joint resolution that simply would add “Emperor Norton Bridge” as an honorary name for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge — leaving in place all existing names and signage for the bridge and its parts, including the “Willie L. Brown, Jr., Bridge” honorific for the West Crossing of the bridge.
The historians joined the Trust’s call that state lawmakers authorize the “Emperor Norton Bridge” naming in 2022 — the 150th anniversary of Emperor Norton’s three newspaper Proclamations setting out the vision for the Bay Bridge in 1872.
Read on for a link to the letter.
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The House of Shields, in San Francisco, is the traditional site of the Tannenbaum Toast. This is the bar c.1950s. We hope to return in 2022. Photograph courtesy of Heather David.
The annual holiday party of The Emperor Norton Trust celebrates the legend that it was Emperor Norton who originally called for the raising of a great tree in Union Square every Yuletide season. (Another apocryphal tale, alas!)
The celebration traditionally takes place on the second Sunday of December in the mezzanine of the historic House of Shields bar, in San Francisco.
This year, we gather via Zoom. The Ninth Annual Tannenbaum Toast takes place on Sunday 12 December at 3:45 p.m. Pacific — and at all related times around the world.
The traditional drink is the Boothby cocktail.
Zoom link on the flip!
Read MoreIn 1934, Emperor Norton was reburied at Woodlawn cemetery, in Colma, Calif., with a new rose granite headstone featuring an inscription whose deeply engraved letters and numbers were hand-gilded with real gold leaf.
It appears that the gilding lasted for several decades. But, eventually, the “illumination” wore off and the inscription mostly was bare, except for the faintest traces of gold and noticeable spots of mossy green film borne of the stone’s years-long exposure to sea air.
The stone still looked this way until very recently. But, in May 2021, Woodlawn quietly brought the inscription back to life.
Includes photo-documentation of the Emperor’s headstone in 1934, 1989/90, 2016, 2019 and today.
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The House of Shields, in San Francisco, is the traditional site of the Tannenbaum Toast. This is the bar c.1950s. We hope to return in 2021. Photograph courtesy of Heather David.
The annual holiday party of The Emperor Norton Trust celebrates the legend that it was Emperor Norton who originally called for the raising of a great tree in Union Square every Yuletide season. (Another apocryphal tale, alas!)
The celebration traditionally takes place on the second Sunday of December in the mezzanine of the historic House of Shields bar, in San Francisco.
This year, we gather via Zoom. The Eighth Annual Tannenbaum Toast takes place on Sunday 13 December at 2 p.m. Pacific — and at all related times around the world.
The drink is the Boothby cocktail.
An extremely rare signed c.1864 Emperor Norton carte de visite is being auctioned right now via Bonhams.
Read MoreThe Library of Congress, at the request of The Emperor Norton Trust, has updated its information for Emperor Norton, changing the Emperor’s birth year from 1819 to 1818 and adding 4 February 1818 as the birth date.
In its updated record, the Library has added a citation crediting the Trust as the source of the research that the Library used to make these changes.
The many research institutions and databases that use Library of Congress records as the basis for their listings now will be able to use the Library’s updated record for Joshua Abraham Norton to update their own subject headings for him.
As this happens, 1818 will become more and more widely accepted as the year when the Emperor was born.
Read MoreOn this 202nd birthday of Emperor Norton — who was born on this day in 1818 — The Emperor Norton Trust shares the news that it has relocated its base from San Francisco to Boston.
Click below for our press release.
Read MoreA rare press release.
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The House of Shields, in San Francisco, is the site of the Tannenbaum Toast. This is the bar c.1950s. Photograph courtesy of Heather David.
The annual holiday party of The Emperor's Bridge Campaign celebrates the legend that it was Emperor Norton who originally called for the raising of a great tree in Union Square every Yuletide season. (Another apocryphal tale, alas!)
The celebration takes place on the second Sunday of December in the mezzanine of the historic House of Shields bar, in San Francisco. The drink is the Boothby cocktail.
We'll gather for the seventh time on Sunday 8 December from 4 to 6 p.m. The formal Toast is at 5 p.m.
Read MoreOn the eve of a crowdfunding campaign in support of its project to produce a compilation album of “Emperor songs” — songs about, or in some way inspired by, Emperor Norton — the Campaign has received a pledge of $3,000 for the project — which represents one-half of the projected $6,000 needed to pay for all costs associated with producing and distributing the album, including engineering, design, vinyl pressing, shipping materials and postage.
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Piping the cake for Queen Charlotte's Birthday Ball, a charity event, c.1930, in support of Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital, in Hammersmith, London.
In February 2015, The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign inaugurated the modern tradition of celebrating Emperor Norton’s historical birth date with a 197th birthday party where we presented our research establishing 4 February 1818 as the Emperor’s date of birth.
We’ve been celebrating the Emperor’s birthday on February 4th ever since — including last year, when we led San Francisco in commemorating the Emperor’s 200th.
So, join the Campaign at the Comstock Saloon this coming February 4th to celebrate the Emperor’s 201st birthday…on his birthday!
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View from the mezzanine as guests arrive for the First Annual Tannenbaum Toast at The House of Shields, San Francisco, in December 2013.
The annual holiday party of The Emperor's Bridge Campaign celebrates the legend that it was Emperor Norton who originally called for the raising of a great tree in Union Square every Yuletide season. By tradition, the celebration takes place on the second Sunday of December in the mezzanine of the historic House of Shields bar in San Francisco, where we'll gather for the sixth time on Sunday 9 December from 4 to 6 p.m.
Read MoreA well-known and fondly regarded Emperor Norton plaque created in 1939 most recently was installed at San Francisco’s old Transbay Terminal for 34 years — from November 1986 until the terminal was prepared for demolition in late 2010.
The weathered bronze plaque has been out of the public view for the last 8 years. But, recently, the plaque was lovingly restored — and plans are moving forward to reinstall the plaque at the new Transbay Transit Center.
Read on for a photograph of the plaque as most have never seen it — and for details on the location now being eyed for this rare and wonderful tribute to the Emperor.
The Emperor's Bridge Campaign seeks three new members — Treasurer; Secretary; and one At-Large Director — for its Board.
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The bicentennial of Emperor Norton's birth is 4 February 2018.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign, in partnership with Bay Area institutions, is producing Emperor Norton at 200 — a series of exhibits, talks, toasts and other special events in February 2018 and throughout the bicentennial year.
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View from the mezzanine as guests arrive for the First Annual Tannenbaum Toast at The House of Shields, San Francisco, in December 2013.
The annual holiday party of The Emperor's Bridge Campaign celebrates the legend that it was Emperor Norton who originally called for the raising of a great tree in Union Square every Yuletide season. By tradition, the celebration takes place on the second Sunday of December in the mezzanine of the historic House of Shields bar in San Francisco, where we'll gather for the fifth time on Sunday 10 December from 4 to 6 p.m.
To join us for a Procession to the Toast — led by Emperor Norton, as played by our friend, Joseph Amster — come to Union Square and gather at the foot of the tree at 3:30 p.m.
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Steam ferry The Oakland, c.1875. Emperor Norton may have ridden on this ship, which operated as part of a partnership between Oakland's first — by then, past — mayor, Horace Carpentier (1824–1918), and the Central Pacific Rail Road. Collection of the Oakland History Room / Oakland Public Library. Source: Bennett Hall.
In 2015, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign launched a new holiday to commemorate the date — 17 September 1859 — when Joshua Norton declared himself and his Empire. We called it Empire Day.
Little known and appreciated is that, for many years — as part of his imperial rounds — Emperor Norton hopped the ferry every week and visited Oakland.
So, this coming September 17th — the third Empire Day— we celebrate with a Sunday afternoon ferry ride and family-friendly outing to the city that anchors the eastern end of the Emperor Norton Bridge.
The Emperor rode for free. So...
Round-trip ferry tickets are free to Emissaries of the Empire a.k.a. members of the Campaign.
Is your Emissary card up-to-date?
Read MoreThe Emperor's Bridge Campaign has contributed four rare Emperor-themed films to the Internet Archive, the nonprofit library that collects published works and makes them available in digital formats.
These films are rarely seen outside the domains of film screening societies and, occasionally, subscription cable television — and sometimes not even then.
The Campaign is delighted and grateful to have the Internet Archive as a partner in making these films available for viewing by a broader audience — both via the Internet Archive and via the Campaign's own ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA).
This collaboration with the Internet Archive includes the Archive's new high-resolution scan of the Campaign's 16mm copy of a 1936 theatrical film short that appears to feature the earliest dramatic portrayal of Emperor Norton extant on film.