A Generous Sampling, 1876–1879

IT WAS AN INFLUENTIAL general-interest San Francisco weekly magazine that — in its writing and its trademark cartoons — leaned heavily into social and political satire. This came with a heavy dose of anti-Chinese sentiment — although the magazine’s particular brand of racism and xenophobia was not as rabid as that of Denis Kearney, one of its favorite targets.

Variously announcing itself in its front-page banners and its mastheads as The Wasp, The Illustrated Wasp, or The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp in its first few years, the magazine mostly was known, in its pages and on the street, simply as the Wasp.

The Wasp debuted on 5 August 1876 — and, from the beginning, Emperor Norton was regular fodder. Whether in columns, items, quips, and asides, or as a featured character in cartoons — several of which are included in the Comics gallery of The Emperor Norton Trust’s digital ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA) — by and large the Wasp treated the Emperor as a figure of fun.

But, as in the Daily Alta newspaper — another local publication that made a habit of using Emperor Norton as “content” — the Wasp’s apparent ironic detachment from the Emperor often betrays a note of sympathy just under the surface.

Here is a selection:

1876

A regular feature in the Wasp was the humorous profile of a given archetype of person that one could see in San Francisco. The following excerpt is from an August 1876 profile of “the general business-man who carries his office in his hat.”

Such a person, the Wasp notes, invariably:

went to school with every man of note in the United States, from George Washington down to Emperor Norton.

A couple of weeks later, in September 1876, the Wasp published what appears to be its first of several cartoons featuring Emperor Norton.

The cartoon — which I discovered in the course of researching the current piece, and whose publication here may be the first publication or notice of the cartoon since its original appearance — is by George Frederick Keller (1846–c.1927), the Wasp’s chief artist from the magazine’s launch until 1883.

Keller’s full-page and full-spread cartoons for the Wasp usually were accompanied by separate editorial pieces. In this case, the subject was how the recently fabricated and installed “Lotta fountain” was a great leveler of society — with people of all races, sexes, abilities, and economic levels quenching their thirsts by sharing the same “dirty, rusty” tin cup provided by the City.

As likely as not, the scene described here is an apocryphal tale. But, the detail that the scene “was witnessed one day last week [at] 1 o’clock p.m.” cracks the door just enough to open up the possibility that some version of this really happened.

According to the Wasp:

His majesty Norton I., by the grace of poverty intermixed with cunningness, was there and waited his turn with the true politeness of a well-bred gentleman.

And later:

His Royal Highness next approached and with becoming dignity not observed by any of the others, he rinsed the cup twice, fearing, we suppose, that his royal lips might be contaminated by touching the cup after the young lady had used it. He, too, drank freely and cleansed his mouth in a red cotton kerchief and went his way.

Here’s the piece:

**Column, “Observing the Civil Rights Bill: The Lotta Fountain Patronage,”** *The Wasp*, 9 September 1876, p. 46 (reformatted for presentation purposes). Collection of the California State Library. Source: Internet Archive

And here’s Keller’s wonderful cartoon — which was published as the back cover of the issue — showing the Emperor prominently at center right:

**Cartoon, “The Patrons of ‘Lotta Fountain’ Observe the Civil Rights Bill Without Constraint,”** by George Frederick Keller (1846–c.1927), *The Wasp*, 9 September 1876, p. 48 (back cover). Collection of the California State Library. Source: Internet Archive

1877

In April 1877, the Wasp offered a light-hearted review of “What Great Men and Women Eat and Drink” — concluding:

Emperor Norton never sits down to his meals, will eat anything, drink anything, smoke anything, and never pay for anything.

By way of commenting on the recent death of Oliver Perry Morton (1823–1877), a respected former Governor and twice-elected U.S. Senator of Indiana, the Wasp published the following item in November 1877.

“Monarchical stock.” Hadn’t previously seen this phrase used in reference to the Emperor’s promissory notes.

In December 1877, number 5 on the Wasp’s list of 30 things for which “We should be thankful”:

That Emperor Norton is still able to be around.

1878

It wasn’t long into Emperor Norton’s reign before the cosplayed “Emperor Norton” became a stock character in theatrical burlesque revues and masquerade balls.

In April 1878, the Wasp’s theater critic took note of a particular good rendition of the Emperor at San Francisco’s Grand Opera House ( Mission Street between 3rd and 4th Streets), writing:

George Knight’s make-up as Emperor Norton was simply astonishing, so true was it to life. Many in the audience seemed to think that it was his majesty in propria persona, and scouted at the idea of its being a “make-up.”

On 1 May 1878, in Paris, a world’s fair opened that often is known as the Paris Exposition.

A couple of days later, in a commentary about California’s participation in the Exposition, the Wasp — with its tongue planted deeply in its cheek — sought to explain why California’s sense of superiority about its own products was warranted.

Placing Emperor Norton on a list of notables, the magazine wrote:

We are a great and glorious people, and we know it — if other people do not. What would be unpardonable conceit in others is very bashfulness in us. The land of Baker, and Broderick, and Phil. Roach, and General Winn, and Emperor Norton, and Fitch, and Pickering, and Pixley, and Dr. O'Donnell, and Michael Reese, and Platt's Hall, and the sand lots, and various other prodigies, cannot be too haughty or pretentious.

The Wasp is one of a number of San Francisco magazines and newspapers that, by 1878, were beginning to notice Emperor Norton’s physical decline in print.

In this example, the Wasp makes the observation but keeps it light:

The Wasp responded in print to a number of reader letters about Emperor Norton.

In June 1878, the magazine responded to “Inquired” on the question of the Emperor’s heir.

“Col. Barnes” is William Henry Linow [typically rendered W.L.B.] Barnes (1836–1902) — who was a prominent San Francisco attorney.

Two weeks later, the Wasp once again teased a connection between Emperor Norton and W.L.B. Barnes, including both men on a shortlist of people who did not have a hand in writing Shakespeare’s works.

Ambrose Bierce did, the magazine winked.

Michael Reese (1817–1878) was a San Francisco plutocrat who left significant bequests — including to the young University of California. But, during his lifetime, he was known to be miserly — and surly to boot.

In July 1878 — just a couple of weeks before Reese’s death — the Wasp responded to a letter from reader “Antequarian” with a little fantasy related to how it imagined Emperor Norton must have viewed such a man.

The following week, the Wasp underscored the significance of a pressing question by placing it last on a list:

Why Emperor Norton does not break down under the weight of responsibility which rests upon his shoulders?

Two pages later in the same issue, the magazine — answering a reader letter from “Pontiach” — put Emperor Norton at the top of a different list.

No doubt, the Emperor would have been happy to be placed in the company of the Palace Hotel and the New City Hall. Surely, though, he would have taken exception to the last two on the list.

When the brokerage firm of W.S. Hopkins Co. got caught up in a check-forging scheme in October 1878, the Wasp compared the firm’s ethics unfavorably to Emperor Norton’s grooming practices.

This adds to the anecdotal evidence that the Emperor had a furry nose.

1879

As in the Wasp’s satirical profile of the “Man with His Office in His Hat” (see 1876, above), the magazine’s profile of the archetypal “Young Man from the Country” creates a caricature for the purpose of poking holes in it.

This riff on the “big fish in a little pond” idea culminates in a kind of morality tale on the untutored Young Man — presumably living in a Small Town — who successfully repairs a rocking chair and receives such praise for his deed that he begins to dream of becoming a celebrated inventor of “a new kind of double action, clipper built, and copperfastened spring bed” and a furniture factory owner.

But, when he brings his dream to “the city,” he quickly realizes that the real work has just begun.

The Wasp ends on a note of encouragement:

However, don't be discouraged, boys. Horace Greeley, Bayard Taylor, Emperor Norton, and many other famous men came from the country. A few bashful ones break down but the great majority succeed.

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We’ve added George Frederick Keller’s cartoon, “The Patrons of ‘Lotta Fountain’ Observe the Civil Rights Bill Without Constraint” — which originally appeared as the back cover of the 9 September 1876 issue of The Wasp — to the Comics gallery of The Emperor Norton Trust’s digital ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA) here. This gallery also includes four other of Keller’s cartoons for the Wasp that feature Emperor Norton.

Keller’s obituary portrait of the Emperor is in the Archive’s “flat works” gallery here.

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