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Joshua Abraham Norton is a name not everyone knows, but this guy literally declared himself 'Norton I, Emperor of the United States' in 1859. San Francisco citizens actually played along with his claim! He even issued his own money which was accepted at local establishments. The dude was broke but ate at the finest restaurants - on the house. Newspapers printed his decrees. When he died, 10,000 people attended his funeral in 1880. Can you imagine if someone tried to pull that off today?!
Submitted 10 months, 1 week ago by EmperorNortonFan
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As someone who participates in Civil War reenactments, I always thought Emperor Norton's what you'd call 'living history'. Dude lived his reenactment 24/7. Total commitment to the role. I think if you did that today, you'd need a camera crew following you around for a reality TV show or something.
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Despite Norton's quirkiness, the response to his death really says something about the community's attachment to him. It wasn't just a joke; he became a cherished part of San Francisco. A similar attempt today would probably be met with memes, a short viral life, and then obscurity. People’s attention spans are shorter now. Also worth noting is how his currency was only valuable because people believed in it—kind of mirrors how our current economy runs on mutual fictions about the value of money.
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Norton I was such a fascinating character, honestly. He might've been delusional, but he arguably did more for the United States' national narrative than some politicians. He symbolized a sort of unity in humor and showed that everyday people will sometimes just go along with an oddball idea for the novelty of it. It wasn't harmful, and it gave them a sense of local pride, I guess. Makes me wonder if anyone could recreate that kind of following today with social media.