RECENT RESEARCH — A public dedication ceremony for the reburial of Emperor Norton in Colma, Calif., was held on 30 June 1934. Those who are familiar with this part of the Emperor's story most closely associate 30 June 1934 with his reburial, as this is the date when the reburial was solemnized — when dignitaries offered eulogies and speeches; musicians from the Municipal Band and Olympic Club of San Francisco played and sang; and a U.S. Army honor guard fired a 3-gun salute before a gathering of some 200 people. But — as we show here — the burial itself took place nearly 3 months earlier.

The Emperor Norton Trust

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Filtering by Tag: Tucker's Hall

The Latter-Day Twain-ification of an Early Theatrical Depiction of Emperor Norton

August 18, 2021 / John Lumea

Emperor Norton biographer William Drury made the grandiose claim, in 1986, that the first theatrical depiction of Emperor Norton took place on 17 September 1861 — the second anniversary of the Emperor’s self-declaration in 1859 — and that this was the inaugural production of the theater itself, which opened on this date.

This isn’t true. And, that’s putting it mildly.

But, as born out by historical newspaper documents from 1860 and 1861 — probably getting their first truly public broadcast here — what is true is interesting on its own.

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categories / Research, Original sources, Places
tags / Tucker's, Tucker's Hall, Academy of Music, Norton the First, Emperor for a Day, burlesque, melodeon, The Golden Era, San Francisco Evening Bulletin, San Francisco Morning Call, Walter Bray, Montgomery Street, William Drury, 1859, 1860, 1861