Of Medals and Medallions: Four Artifacts of Mid-20th-Century “Norton Culture”
The period of the 1950s and ‘60s was a high-water mark of the Norton Cultural Complex in San Francisco.
Probably the best-known engine of “Emperor Norton awareness” during this time was the San Francisco Chronicle’s Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt. But, there were many other Norton-related projects, too — and some of them left behind beautiful physical traces.
At least three — perhaps all four — of the Nortonian artifacts discussed here trace their origins, production and promotion to the Chronicle.
And, two of them — a medallion and a medal — are relics of a “Grand Order of the West” that remains very mysterious indeed.
Includes rarely seen photographs.
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