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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how

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Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy. And there's something

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Speaker 1: really big that you might have missed in history class,

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Speaker 1: which is the fact that for a time in the

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Speaker 1: mid eighteen hundreds, the United States was ruled by an emperor. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: for real. He abolished Congress, he fired the president, and

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Speaker 1: he wore these militaristic uniforms and roam the streets of

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Speaker 1: San Francisco. So we definitely missed this in history class.

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Speaker 1: But fortunately our listeners did not know our subject for today,

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Speaker 1: the self proclaimed legendary eccentric Norton, one day Grattia, Emperor

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Speaker 1: of the United States and Protector of Mexico, is one

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Speaker 1: of our most popularly requested subjects in the history of

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Speaker 1: listener mail. It's up there with like Canadian history and

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Speaker 1: history of the sixties, like very broad topics. So we

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Speaker 1: will we will oblige today. So we don't know a

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Speaker 1: whole lot about Joshua Abraham Norton's early life except that

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Speaker 1: he was probably Jewish, and he was probably born in

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Speaker 1: eighteen eighteen or eighteen nineteen in London, and from there

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Speaker 1: his family must have moved to South Africa, and he

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Speaker 1: obtained a pretty substantial amount of wealth while he was

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Speaker 1: living there. He arrived in San Francisco in eighteen forty

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Speaker 1: nine hoping to make some money off the gold Rush

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Speaker 1: like everyone else did, and he was a successful merchant

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Speaker 1: worth about forty thousand dollars, a lot of money at

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Speaker 1: the time. But he may, according to some accounts, have

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Speaker 1: already shown signs of psychological instability. But Sara, you said

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Speaker 1: you didn't put a lot of stock in that will.

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Speaker 1: Other accounts say he's he's fine until later in his life,

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Speaker 1: and we'll certainly be getting there soon. But whatever, he

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Speaker 1: does quite well in commodities and his fortune balloon uns

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Speaker 1: to two and fifty thousand dollars. He's even invited to

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Speaker 1: join San Francisco's Vigilance Committee, which is a pretty big deal.

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Speaker 1: It's not a vigilante as I originally read it. That

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Speaker 1: would be a different kind of podcast. But in December

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Speaker 1: eighteen fifty two, he makes a really bad business decision.

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Speaker 1: There's a rice shortage that drives up the price of

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Speaker 1: rice from four cents a pound to thirty seven cents

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Speaker 1: a pound, and he's thinking, I'm going to cash in

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Speaker 1: on this. So a ship arrives in the harbor and

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Speaker 1: he decides he will buy the entire shipment of rice

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Speaker 1: at twelve cents a pound, probably thinking he's getting a

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Speaker 1: pretty good deal. Right well, right as he's about to

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Speaker 1: close the deal, another ship filled with rice comes in

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Speaker 1: and the value plummets to three cents, and of course

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Speaker 1: Norton is ruined by his his could have been deal.

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Speaker 1: And it's unclear exactly what happens to him after this,

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Speaker 1: but it seems as though nor And tried to pay

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Speaker 1: off his debts before he declared bankruptcy in eighteen fifty six.

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Speaker 1: And the last record of him in this period of

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Speaker 1: his life is as a juror in September of eighteen

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Speaker 1: fifty seven, and then he disappears. He's gone. So two

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Speaker 1: years later he comes back September sev eighteen fifty nine.

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Speaker 1: He's dressed as Napoleon the Third when he wanders into

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Speaker 1: the offices of the San Francisco Bulletin demanding that they

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Speaker 1: published this proclamation, and the bulletin editor at the time,

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Speaker 1: George Fitch, is he's okay with this. You know this

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Speaker 1: strangely dressed man coming in ordering that he prints something,

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Speaker 1: and UH issues the proclamation at the peremptory request and

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Speaker 1: desire of a large majority of the citizens of the

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Speaker 1: United States, I, Joshua Norton, declare and proclaim myself Emperor

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Speaker 1: of these United States. So there we go, and that's

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Speaker 1: the root of our story here. And I think most

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Speaker 1: towns in the eighteen fifties would have locked up someone

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Speaker 1: who was proclaiming himself emperor and um writing it in

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Speaker 1: the newspapers. Not San Francisco. No, they love their bizarre characters.

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Speaker 1: And before Norton even arrived, they had already been entertained

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Speaker 1: by George Washington the Second, who wore a revolutionary war costume.

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Speaker 1: You know what else would he wear? Uh? The King

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Speaker 1: of Pain, not like the police song now the Money King,

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Speaker 1: the Great Unknown, the gutter Snipe, and Ufti Goofty, which

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Speaker 1: I think is Katie's favorite favorite of I wanted to

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Speaker 1: introduce us as Katie the Gutter Snipe and Sarah Ufti Goofty,

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Speaker 1: but she wouldn't because Ufti Goofti would take hits with

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Speaker 1: the pool queue for fifty cents, which I mean, there's

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Speaker 1: got to be a better way to earn your money

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Speaker 1: than that, I think. So Norton is tolerated and even encouraged,

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Speaker 1: and roams the streets of San Francisco for the next

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Speaker 1: twenty years, issuing proclamation and attending civic functions, reviewing the

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Speaker 1: core of cadets of the University of California, and attending

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Speaker 1: the Senate Chambers in Sacramento, where he had a special

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Speaker 1: chair and took extensive notes. And so unsurprisingly, a young

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Speaker 1: reporter in town, Samuel Clemens, notices him and eventually models

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Speaker 1: his character of the king in Huckleberry Finn on Norton.

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Speaker 1: This is, of course Mark twain Um, but Norton is

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Speaker 1: a pretty colorful character who would even stand out among

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Speaker 1: all these other wild figures in this frontier town in

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Speaker 1: American history. Fred Dickey writes that he wore a tall

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Speaker 1: beaver hat with a plume and rosette, dressed in a

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Speaker 1: blue suit with tarnished gold plate epaulets, and carried both

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Speaker 1: a cane and a tricolor umbrella. His oversized shoes were

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Speaker 1: sensibly ventilated with holes to provide relief for his corns.

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Speaker 1: On ceremonial occasions, he would even wear a sword, So yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think he would cut quite a figure in town. Here.

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Speaker 1: We should clarify that he's not homeless, even though that's

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Speaker 1: a part of the Emperor Norton's story. He rented rooms,

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Speaker 1: but he relied on the generosity of his subjects for meals, uniforms,

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Speaker 1: and transportation. As far as food, any restaurant would feed him,

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Speaker 1: and somewhat even except the fifty cent bonds that he'd

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Speaker 1: printed up. In nineteen thirty three, journalist Herbert Asbury wrote,

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Speaker 1: he ate without paying at whatever restaurant, lunchroom or saloon

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Speaker 1: took his fancy. After he visited an establishment, the owners

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Speaker 1: were permitted to post a sign by appointment to the

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Speaker 1: Emperor Norton the first Invariably, these appointments brought great business

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Speaker 1: to the saloon or restaurant, so graced, which is a

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Speaker 1: tactic I planned to try in Atlanta. It's a bold tactic,

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Speaker 1: but you never know. M His clothes were also really

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Speaker 1: important to him. The city government would even give him close.

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Speaker 1: They bought him a new uniform after he released yet

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Speaker 1: another proclamation saying we, etcetera, have heard serious complaints of

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Speaker 1: our adherents and all around that our imperial wardrobe is

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Speaker 1: a national disgrace, and even his majesty, the King of Pain,

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Speaker 1: has had his sympathy excited so far as to offer

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Speaker 1: us a suit of clothing, which we have had a

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Speaker 1: delicacy in not accepting. Therefore, we warn those whose duty

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Speaker 1: it is to attend to these affairs that their scalps

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Speaker 1: are in danger if our said word is unheeded. So

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Speaker 1: you know, he gets his new beaver hat and his

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Speaker 1: ballets and the whole shebang. I think we, etcetera would

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Speaker 1: be a good name for a collection of short stories

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Speaker 1: if you're looking for one. But switching back to our

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Speaker 1: actual subject, transport. The Central Pacific Railroad gave him a

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Speaker 1: lifetime past to travel, So not a bad life being

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Speaker 1: Emperor Norton the first. But you know, and Peror Norton

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Speaker 1: is not all about maintaining his own serene highness with

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Speaker 1: his fancy clothes and his fine dining. And he issues

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Speaker 1: real proclamations that mean real serious business. That likely that

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Speaker 1: a lot of his proclamations were simply made up by

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Speaker 1: the newspapers, but we know at least some of them

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Speaker 1: were authentic. And just to give you a taste of

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Speaker 1: the severities of these proclamations. On July sixteenth, eighteen sixty

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Speaker 1: he issued a decree dissolving the United States of America,

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Speaker 1: and then on October one, eighteen sixty he issued another

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Speaker 1: bar in Congress from meeting in Washington, d C. On

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Speaker 1: August twelfth, eighteen sixty nine, a decree from Norton dissolved

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Speaker 1: and abolished the Democratic and Republican parties due to party strife,

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Speaker 1: and on December sixteenth, eighteen sixty nine, he demanded that

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Speaker 1: Sacramento clean its muddy streets and placed gas lights on

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Speaker 1: streets leading to the capitol, so some civic pride there.

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Speaker 1: He even went as far as to fire Lincoln, and

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Speaker 1: he charged the Army General to use troops to break

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Speaker 1: up Congress if they were maybe a little reluctant about

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Speaker 1: leaving Washington, dare resistant to do that. And he's pretty

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Speaker 1: serious about his bank notes too, because he orders that

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Speaker 1: the assets of San Francisco's first national Bank be seized. Um. So, yeah,

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Speaker 1: a lot of very serious business for Emperor Norton, and he,

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Speaker 1: or perhaps the sensitive newspaper editors even abolished the nickname

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Speaker 1: Frisco quote, which has no linguistic or other warrant, which

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Speaker 1: I think everyone in San Francisco would agree with. But

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Speaker 1: even though some of these decrees sound awfully serious, he's

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Speaker 1: a really nice guy and he's pretty non threatening. So

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Speaker 1: it's something that makes all these, you know, wild things

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Speaker 1: he does more palatable to the citizens of San Francisco

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Speaker 1: and even lovable. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in what other

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Speaker 1: city would a harmless madman who's opposed himself Emperor have

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Speaker 1: been so fostered and encouraged. So it's just a San

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Speaker 1: Francisco thing. Every now and then, though the city would

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Speaker 1: make a mistake, some maybe overenthusiastic police sir would decide

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Speaker 1: that they wanted to arrest Norton. This happened in eighteen

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Speaker 1: sixty seven when a patrol special officer took him in

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Speaker 1: for involuntary treatment of a mental disorder, and it caused

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Speaker 1: a citywide uproar. People were furious that their Emperor had

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Speaker 1: been arrested, and the police chief was forced to apologize

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Speaker 1: to Norton and ordered his release. Editorials in the newspapers

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Speaker 1: condemned the incident, and officers started to salute him after this.

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Speaker 1: After this big faux paw, it's not just the city

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Speaker 1: that loved him. He also earned the love of a

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Speaker 1: couple of famous San Francisco mutts street dogs named Bummer

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Speaker 1: and Lazarus, who also seized the public's attention in the

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Speaker 1: mid eighteen sixties. And this is a weird story in

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Speaker 1: its own right. Bummer who had a really severe underbike.

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Speaker 1: He actually couldn't close his lips over his his big

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Speaker 1: dog teeth. I was making dog faces at Sarah earlier. Sorry,

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Speaker 1: you guys must have so anyways, Bummer rescues Lazarus, who

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Speaker 1: is a smaller, mangy dog, from a dog fight, and

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Speaker 1: after that the two of them stick together. And also

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Speaker 1: after that, the people of San Francisco become obsessed with

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Speaker 1: these two mutt dogs roaming around the city. They're allowed

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Speaker 1: to run free, even downtown, where they're really strict leash

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Speaker 1: and muzzle laws. And when a dog catcher caught Lazarus once,

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Speaker 1: a crowd raised money for his release, kind of like

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Speaker 1: um when Norton gets arrested and Norton didn't claim the dogs,

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Speaker 1: but they'd be seen together looking for lunch or walking

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Speaker 1: the streets, And I thought sounded a bit like a

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Speaker 1: Disney story of the eccentric character with his you know

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Speaker 1: animal pals like Milo and otis roaming, probably to talk

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Speaker 1: or something. Maybe they'd have funny accents. Well, and Mark

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Speaker 1: Twain again wrote Bummer's obituary. So this is one seriously

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Speaker 1: famous dog notable claim for any dog, definitely. So on

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Speaker 1: January eight, Norton the first eyes on a street corner

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Speaker 1: and that's when authorities learned that he had been living

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Speaker 1: at a fifty cent room at Eureka lodging house for

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Speaker 1: the past seventeen years. And they go into his room

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Speaker 1: for the first time, and it's really tiny, only ten

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Speaker 1: by six and it has a cot, one chair, a

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Speaker 1: picture and a basin, and it's covered with proclamations that

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Speaker 1: he's written and telegrams and stock certificates and pictures of

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Speaker 1: other reigning monarchs and his favorite, uh, you know, other

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Speaker 1: reigning monarch happens to be Queen Victoria, who he hopes

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Speaker 1: will one day become his consort. Was my favorite line

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Speaker 1: from this entire outline. Despite his meager accommodations, people sent

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Speaker 1: him off in style. Citizens raised money for a new

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Speaker 1: uniform and a rosewood casket, and his funeral cortege was

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Speaker 1: two miles long and attended by as many as thirty

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Speaker 1: thousand people. So he's sent off like an emperor. Definitely. Um,

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Speaker 1: he's buried in the city by a mason's but then

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Speaker 1: he is exhumed. Has so many of our podcast subjects

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Speaker 1: are Um. Yeah, there's this great relocation of San Francisco bodies,

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Speaker 1: which I'm sure people who live there know about, but

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Speaker 1: I had never heard of it. They're relocated to Coma

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Speaker 1: and Norton is exhumed in nineteen thirty four and reburied

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Speaker 1: in Woodlawn Cemetery. And a strange side note, this is

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Speaker 1: the same cemetery where previous podcast mentions such as White Earth,

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Speaker 1: Joe DiMaggio and William Randolph Hursts are now buried. So

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Speaker 1: good company. I guess. His name was bandied about in

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Speaker 1: the past several years, due in part to an eighteen

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Speaker 1: seventy two proclamation in which he called for a suspension

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Speaker 1: bridge to be built as soon as convenient between Oakland

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Speaker 1: Point and Goat Island and then on to San Francisco,

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Speaker 1: and some people had suggested that the Bay Bridge be

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Speaker 1: renamed in his honor, but perhaps surprisingly, the people in

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Speaker 1: Oakland were not impressed with the idea. Yeah, if you

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Speaker 1: look up the San Francisco newspaper quotes on this people

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Speaker 1: in Oakland have some pretty funny ideas, funny opinions of Norton. Um,

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Speaker 1: so we're loft with a big question here. What went wrong?

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Speaker 1: Uh for Norton? You know, he's he's this very successful businessman.

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Speaker 1: He has this great, uh disastrous ruin and then he

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Speaker 1: descends into uh, severe delusion, and people have thought, you know,

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Speaker 1: maybe the Rice speculation and the failure with that actually

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Speaker 1: drove him insane. A nineteen thirty nine biographer Alan Stanley

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Speaker 1: Lane said there is no evidence that Norton revealed any

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Speaker 1: striking erratic tendencies during his business career. He probably held

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Speaker 1: in check any irrational whims, but being a proud and

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Speaker 1: sensitive man, he suffered great mental torture over his misfortunes.

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Speaker 1: But we know from other accounts, though, that he may

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Speaker 1: have shown signs of delusion even before his great Rice failure.

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Speaker 1: But a more modern analysis suggests that he wasn't schizophrenic

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Speaker 1: or bipolar, but maybe he reached this delusional state after

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Speaker 1: the stress of his failure, which is in keeping with

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Speaker 1: the earlier assessment. Regardless, his eccentricity has lived on in

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Speaker 1: the public imagination and that of our listeners, even if

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Speaker 1: his name won't grace abridge. There have been books and

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Speaker 1: plays and opera has written about him Henry Mollacone's Emperor Norton,

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Speaker 1: and in California there have been Beers, Sundays Inns, and

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Speaker 1: a now defunct record label named for him, which Sarah

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Speaker 1: was looking up earlier. Yeah. Weirdly enough they represented Lady Tron.

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Speaker 1: But members of the Raucous History Society e lamp As

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Speaker 1: a Vitus, which has also been a listener suggestion lately

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Speaker 1: by Lucy make these annual pilgrimages to his grave which

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Speaker 1: kind of reminds me of Houdini to the seances, and

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Speaker 1: his cane is kept at the California Historical Society. But

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Speaker 1: Sarah has a different favorite fact about him. Yeah. In

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Speaker 1: August eighteen seventy, he responded to a census taker listening

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Speaker 1: himself as living at the address six Commercial Street and

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Speaker 1: noting his occupation as emperor. Of course, what else would

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Speaker 1: it be? So that answers the question of our podcast title,

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Speaker 1: who was Emperor of the United States? And that brings

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Speaker 1: us to listener mail. So our first emails from Kira

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Speaker 1: in Ireland and She wrote that she had to choose

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Speaker 1: a project for a major exam in Ireland that you

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Speaker 1: basically have to do well on before you get into college,

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Speaker 1: and she couldn't decide what to pick, and after listening

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Speaker 1: to a few of the Medici podcasts, she found her subject.

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Speaker 1: And she just wanted to say thanks, and uh, let

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Speaker 1: us know. So you're welcome and we're glad that you

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Speaker 1: loved the Medici And we have a nun their Medici email,

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Speaker 1: and this one is from Sarah in Illinois, and she wrote,

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Speaker 1: I liked the Medici super series. I have a vague

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Speaker 1: memory of reading about Katherine de Medici's corset when I

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Speaker 1: was a kid. It had the zodiac symbols on it,

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Speaker 1: I think, and I remember wanting one just like it.

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Speaker 1: I remember reading that the ladies of her court were

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Speaker 1: only allowed to have small waists thirteen inches or smaller.

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Speaker 1: And Sarah, this is actually something I read in a

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Speaker 1: biography of Katherine de Medici. She kept a flying squadron

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Speaker 1: of lovely court ladies around her in part to counterbalance

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Speaker 1: her as this very serious widow dressed in mourning. She

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Speaker 1: she knew it kind of set her off, you know,

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Speaker 1: And as always, if you'd like to email us where

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Speaker 1: at History podcast at how stuff works dot com, and

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Speaker 1: you should also follow us on Twitter at Miston History

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Speaker 1: or join our Facebook fan page where we post all

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Speaker 1: kinds of cool stuff that we're reading and researching, and

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Speaker 1: feel free to check out our homepage at www dot

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Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. For more on this and

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Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com

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Speaker 1: and be sure to check out this stuff you missed

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Speaker 1: in History class, blogged on the how stuff works dot

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Speaker 1: com home page