F I R S TP R E V197NEXTLAST

Emperor Norton's Christmas Tree, Union Square
An annual tradition, the Christmas Tree in Union Square was first erected in the 1850s under orders of Norton the First, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. Emperor Norton, a charming crackpot, originally named Joshua Norton, lost his fortune and his mind attempting to corner the rice market in 1853. From then on he walked the streets of San Francisco as Emperor, in full-dress military uniform, accompanied by his two dogs Bummer and Lazarus, and delivering imperial edicts. San Francisco embraced and humored Norton, police officers saluted when he passed by, he was given free street car rides, and restaurants and merchants accepted the money he had printed up. In 1870 a city ordinance was passed granting him $30 per year for a new uniform and the US census of that year listed his occupation as 'emperor'. When he died of a heart attack in 1880 on his way to lecture the Academy of Sciences, 20,000 San Franciscans turned out for his funeral.
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