RECENT RESEARCH — Over the last 25-plus years, a conventional wisdom has come together around the twin claims that (1) the taxidermies of the legendary San Francisco dogs of the 1860s Bummer and Lazarus — donated to the Golden Gate Park Museum (the future de Young) in 1906 — were destroyed by the Museum in early 1910 because they were filled with bugs, and that (2) Museum records document this. But, we have discovered two contemporaneous newspaper accounts that place the dogs at the Museum in 1917. Plus: The Senior Registrar of the de Young confirms that Museum records actually are mute on both the date and the reason why the dogs were destroyed. Plenty to chew on in our recent deep-dive.

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Charles A. Murdock, Second and Last Printer to Norton I: A Photo Gallery

Charles Murdock was a friend of Emperor Norton.

He also was a fine printer who created and produced the Emperor’s promissory notes for two years — from January 1878 until the Emperor’s death in January 1880.

Here are four rarely seen photographs of Emperor Norton’s printer and good friend.

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