"Be Nortonian" on Empire Day 2024
An invitation and a challenge for Empire Day 2024 — the 165th anniversary of Joshua Norton’s declaration of himself as Norton I, Emperor of the United States, on 17 September 1859.
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Empire Day Dedication & Celebration of Emperor Norton Place
Left to right: (1) Emperor Norton, between spring 1871 and spring 1872. From carte de visite by Tuttle & Johnson studio, 523 Kearny Street, "Heliographic Artists." Collection of the California Historical Society. (2) Emperor Norton Place street sign, at the northwest corner of Montgomery and Kearny Streets, San Francisco. (3) Eureka Lodgings building, 624/626/628 Commercial Street, San Francisco, early 1906. Detail of photograph credited to Treu Ergeben (T.E.) Hecht (1875–1937). Photo #AAB–3457, San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library. Source: SFPL
Announcement and details of the official dedication and celebration of “Emperor Norton Place” as the City and County of San Francisco’s commemorative name for the 600 block of Commercial Street, between Montgomery and Kearny Streets — where Emperor Norton is documented to have lived from sometime between summer 1864 and summer 1865 until his death in January 1880.
Read MoreThe Tenth Annual Tannenbaum Toast
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 More"Be Nortonian" on Empire Day 2022
An invitation and a challenge for Empire Day 2022 — the 163rd anniversary of Joshua Norton’s declaration of himself as Norton I, Emperor of the United States, on 17 September 1859.
Read MoreEmperor Norton's 204th: A Birthday to Cheer, A Bridge Name This Year (Zoom)
Decorating cakes at Dressel’s, in Cicero, Ill. Source: Chicago Tribune
Join The Emperor Norton Trust on Zoom as we raise a glass to Emperor Norton on his 204th birthday.
Read MoreThe Ninth Annual Tannenbaum Toast
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 MoreEmperor Norton's 203rd: An Historical Birthday Toast & Convivium (Zoom)
Eleanor Roosevelt cutting FDR’s birthday cake at the Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C., on 29 January 1938. Among the many notables who stayed at the Willard — or frequented its bar — in Emperor Norton's day were Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" while staying at the hotel. Photo: Library of Congress. For more on the Willard Hotel, click here.
The Emperor's Norton Trust’s seventh annual celebration of the Emperor's historical birthday on February 4th — a tradition we inaugurated with a party for the Emp's 197th, in 2015 — takes place on Thursday 4 February 2021 at 6 p.m. Pacific / 9 p.m. Eastern.
Read MoreThe Eighth Annual Tannenbaum Toast
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.
ZOOM TALK #1 | Emperor Norton in Black San Francisco: Empire Day Notes on SF's Monarch of the Marginalized
Banner of the black-owned and -operated Pacific Appeal newspaper, an abolitionist weekly in San Francisco. Between late 1870 and mid 1875, the Appeal published some 250 Proclamations of Emperor Norton. The issue of 7 March 1874, whose banner is shown here, featured a Proclamation in which the Emperor insisted that black children be admitted to public schools.
For Empire Day 2020, The Emperor Norton Trust offers a free Zoom discussion of Emperor Norton's relationships with leading black intellectuals and editors of his day — as well as the Emperor's well-documented insistence on equality, civil rights and expanded legal protections for black people.
Read MoreEmperor Norton's 202nd Birthday Toast
With our founder, John Lumea, on the road to his new home in Boston, the Trust’s traditional celebration of Emperor Norton’s birthday is a virtual affair this year.
Read MoreThe Seventh Annual Tannenbaum Toast
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 MoreEmpire Day Celebration to Mark the 160th Anniversary of Emperor Norton’s Public Reign
Join The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign and the Comstock Saloon in our celebration of Empire Day — the anniversary of Joshua Norton’s public declaration of himself as Emperor on 17 September 1859.
Read MoreEmperor Norton's Actual Factual 201st Birthday Party!
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!
Read MoreThe Sixth Annual Tannenbaum Toast
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 MoreThe Emperor's Bridge Campaign's 5th Anniversary Absinthe, Gin & Cake Party
The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign is turning five! Please help us celebrate this important milestone!
Read MoreEmperor's Bridge Campaign Marks Bicentennial With "Emperor Norton at 200" Series
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.
Read MoreThe Fifth Annual Tannenbaum Toast
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.
Read MoreAn Empire Day Ferry Trip to Oakland — Emperor Norton's "Summer Capital"
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 MoreFIELD TALK #3 | His Majesty's Ink: The Boutique Printers of Emperor Norton's Bonds & Decrees, 1870–1880
At the Campaign's next Field Talk — on Sunday 4 June — we'll visit the sites and tell the stories of the two firms that printed all of Emperor Norton's bonds and most of his Proclamations: Cuddy & Hughes and Charles A. Murdock & Co.
Read MoreLIGHTS! CAMERA! NORTON! A Campaign Fundraiser
On Thursday 23 March, The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign presents Lights! Camera! Norton! — an evening of three films about Emperor Norton at the legendary Roxie Theater in San Francisco.
The event includes a screening of our own 35mm print of a 1936 short that we believe features the earliest dramatic portrayal of the Emperor on film.
This special evening takes place in the 254-seat Big Roxie theater and is a fundraiser for the Campaign: After the first 50 tickets sold, 50 percent of all proceeds from this screening will benefit The Campaign.
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