"Harbor Emperor" Switcheroo?
An Emperor Norton Figurehead Sculpted for a Newly Built San Francisco Bay Sightseeing Vessel in 1968 Still Plies the Bay’s Waters Today.
Or Does It? Comparisons of Photographs of the Figure Over Time Suggest That The Original Was Substantially Modified — Or Even Replaced — in the 1970s.
FOR A COUPLE of years now, I have been…harboring a theory that the fondly regarded and oft-photographed Emperor Norton figurehead on the bow of the longtime San Francisco sightseeing vessel Harbor Emperor differs in significant respects from the original figure that was placed there nearly 60 years ago.
In 1968, the firm now known as Crowley Maritime built a new 500-passenger vessel for its Red & White fleet in San Francisco. Having decided on the name Harbor Emperor, Crowley commissioned Elwin J. Millerick, an inveterate whittler and avocational sculptor from Santa Rosa, Calif., to design and hand-carve as a figurehead for the vessel a 5-foot sculpture of Emperor Norton.
Here, in a photo that ran in the Napa Register, is how the figurehead, which Millerick carved from pine, looked in May 1868 when the Harbor Emperor went into service.
Elwin Millerick’s hand-carved Emperor Norton figurehead on Crowley’s (Harbor Tours) new Harbor Emperor sightseeing vessel based at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, Napa Register, 18 May 1968, p. 5D. Source: Newspapers dot com
A similar view appeared in the Petaluma Argus–Courier on the same day:
Emperor Norton figurehead on new Harbor Emperor sightseeing vessel, Petaluma Argus–Courier, 18 May 1968, p. 12A. Source: Newspapers dot com
Notice a couple of things:
1
The head of the figure appears to be perpendicular to the body — so that the Emperor looks forward relative to his body but downward relative to the vessel and the surface of the water.
2
The diameter of the crown at the top of the hat appears to be the same, perhaps a little larger, than the diameter at the brim ― meaning that the crown as a whole rises vertically from the brim, as it does in the beaver hats that Emperor Norton is seen wearing in photographs of him.
Here’s a photograph of the figurehead taken in 2005 — the best I could find that provides for an apples-to-apples comparison with the photos from 1968:
Harbor Emperor figurehead of Emperor Norton in 2005. Photograph: Alex Erde
Notice that:
1
The head has a decidedly upward tilt compared to 1968 — making the Emperor serve as more of a metaphorical “headlight” for the vessel, rather than looking down at the water.
2
Whereas in 1968 the crown of the hat was almost completely external to the bow — and thus more visible — the crown now is more “collapsed” into the bow, making the visible section appear to taper from the brim to the top and giving the whole thing a “17th-century buckle-hatted Thanksgiving pilgrim” aspect.
Also: The brim now is more parallel to the water line.
By the mid 1990s, Crowley was looking to get out of the sightseeing vessel business and in 1997 sold the Red & White Fleet to the Blue & Gold Fleet.
When I asked Blue & Gold vice president Kent McGrath about changes to the Emperor Norton figurehead over its history, he responded:
“Blue & Gold has removed the figurehead three times over our ownership. One of these removals did involve repairing some structural damage which included the loss/replacing of his hand and replacing a portion of the hat brim....Other removals have been done for preservation in the way of crack repair and repainted.”
Otherwise, McGrath said, "the look and design of the figurehead was basically the same at the time of [the 1997] purchase as it is now.”
But, when I look at the following postcard of the Harbor Emperor from 1979, the figurehead — to me — looks more like it does now than it did in 1968.
If I’m right, then substantial changes to the figure could have been made in the first decade — when anyone who was paying close attention at the time now would be in their 70s or older.
Postcard of Harbor Emperor with Emperor Norton figurehead, 1979. Source: Out West Paper Americana
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ANOTHER FEATURE inviting speculation that we’ve been looking at Emperor Norton Figurehead 2.0 for some time: the face.
Elwin Millerick was a folk sculptor who carved in a rustic, rough-hewn, figurative style.
In June 1968, Millerick told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
I do this type of work as a hobby. I’ve been whittling away on wood since I was a little kid and have done a number of sailing vessels. Lester Bedient of Harbor Tours spotted me whittling away on a replica of the sailing ship Balclutha in San Francisco and asked me if I'd be interested in “doing” Emperor Norton. It's one of the biggest jobs I've done, and I'm quite proud of it.
When the the new Sonoma County Museum opened in Santa Rosa in 1985, the gift shop sold 12”-high chalkware statuettes of Emperor Norton. These were cast from an original wood carving Millerick did in 1968 — clearly as a study for the larger Norton figurehead (notice the pose of the figure).
Here’s Millerick with the original carving:
Elwin Millerick with his 1968 wood carving of Emperor Norton — originally created as a study for the larger Harbor Emperor figurehead of Norton he carved that year; later used for a chalkware casting of the statuette that was sold at the Sonoma County Museum gift shop starting in 1985. lllustration for “The Wild Oat symbol & shop,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif,), 12 January 1985, Sonoma County Museum section, p. 7. Source: California Digital Newspaper Collection
Here’s the chalkware version of Millerick’s statuette:
Figurine of Emperor Norton, c.1985. Chalkware, 12” high. Cast from a 1968 wood original by Elwin Millerick (1911–1997). Photo: Joseph Amster
How likely is it that the person who hand-carved the large and small figurative editions of Emperor Norton in 1968 also is behind the smooth, slick, stylized face of the current Harbor Emperor figurehead?
Emperor Norton figurehead of sightseeing vessel Harbor Emperor in San Francisco in 2012. Detail of photograph © Paul Sullivan
This is a face that carries the cartoonish, purposely child-friendly whiff of “statues” that one sees at amusement parks, fast-food restaurant playgrounds, arcades, and miniature golf courses — and, in that sense, one could say that it fits right in at Fisherman’s Wharf.
But, it doesn’t appear to be Elwin Millerick’s work.
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AT A MINIMUM, it seems to me, the head and the hat of the Harbor Emperor figurehead are not original and — whether because of rot or vandalism — were substantially modified or switched out entirely sometime in the 1970s.
Any takers for my take? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?
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