There’s a familiar and popular illustration of Emperor Norton that most Nortonians know because it appeared on a Discordian flyer created by Greg Hill a.k.a. Malaclypse the Younger.

Hill wasn’t just any Discordian. He was one of the two co-founders of Discordianism, the mystical “anti-religion” that reveres Emperor Norton as a saint. It is Hill qua Malaclypse who is credited with the oft-quoted aphorism: “Everybody understands Mickey Mouse. Few understand Hermann Hesse. Hardly anybody understands Einstein. And nobody understands Emperor Norton."

But, it wasn’t Hill who drew the Emp that is featured on his flyer. He cribbed the illustration from one of the most influential corporate advertising firms in the United States. The illustration was work the firm had just done for an Old West banking client that has been a household name for generations.

The ad firm already had a connection of sorts to the Emperor. Soon — 50 years ago this past July — the firm would create what now is regarded as one of the most legendary ads in the history of the discipline.

The obscure origins of the firm’s portrait of the Emperor have remained hidden for decades.

Read on to see what’s under the rock. It’s a fascinating story.