The Cane of Emperor Norton

Earlier today, I spent some time looking at one of the canes that belonged to Emperor Norton. I am reasonably confident that the cane was given to Emperor Norton by some members of the local San Francisco Irish community.

First, I think the wood is hawthorn. Both hawthorn and blackthorn get long thorns on their younger, thinner branches (thus the name) but still get bumps on the older, thicker branches. On some trees, those can become burls, and this is a stunningly burly branch. Hawthorn is also native to California; blackthorn is not:

Second, the cane a bit tall for His Majesty, or anyone else of average height from that time. Canes are usually measured by standing up straight, letting your arms go loose at your sides, and measuring from your wrist to the floor. That's usually about half of your total body height, for both men and women.

During the 1800's, average height for a man was between 5' 4" early on, to 5' 6" later that century, and we have no reason to suspect that Norton was taller than average. But the cane is 35.5" long, which would be right for a man 5' 10". It's way too big for him, as canes go:

But it is a decent size for a shillelagh. And, in fact, the Irish frequently used both hawthorn and blackthorn for shillelaghs on account of their relatively light weight and great strength. This particular stick also has a big burl at the top, right where you'd want to hit someone.

Which gets us to the burn marks. At first glance, the obvious thought is that there were plenty of fires back in the day; the stick is made of wood and apparently ended up near one of them. However, and I love this part, the Irish had a practice of drying the wood by stuffing them up the chimney. Soot-blackened shillelaghs became popular for their dark, textured appearance, which apparently looks cooler than a normal wood-colored stick.

If that's what happened, if it was an Irish shillelagh prior to being turned into a cane for Emperor Norton, then we would expect four things:

1. Darker and more burning at the bottom than at the top. You hold the stick by the base when you stuff it up the chimney, so the bottom is closer to the fire and should be more blackened. It's a little hard to see from my poorly shot pictures, but the bottom is definitely more burnt.

2. The handle, cap, and engraved collar should not show signs of scorching. They would have been put on only after the blackening process had completed and the wood had been pulled out of whatever chimney it was stuck up. So, wear yes, burn no:

3. There should be varnish on the blackest, most burnt parts of the wood. If the exposure to fire happened before varnish was applied, then there should be varnish everywhere (except places where wood has literally chipped off). If the exposure to fire happened after varnish was applied, then probably the varnish would burn away, at least on the spots most exposed. Here, you can see the black bits are all nice and glossy:

4. For similar reasons, you would expect the same amount of varnish on the lighter parts (where the blackening soot was rubbed away) as you have on the blackened wood. Probably someone rubbed off the blackening on some of the burls to make them stand out visually even more. It accentuates their appearance, and once you're down to natural wood tone again, you put on the varnish. Here you can see the lighter and darker bits all have a comparable gloss:

This is all easier to see in the full sized photos, and even easier to see live. Which, the next time you're there, absolutely check it out. But in any case, it all lines up pretty nicely in favor of Irish shillelagh.

One reasonable guess is that someone saw this wonderful but admittedly rather bizarre shillelagh, and had the notion to turn it into a cane for a man who might be described in roughly similar terms. San Francisco certainly had a robust Irish community by that time and, not just a coincidence, "Norton" is an Irish surname.

Also, by looking at the handle you can tell that Emperor Norton was right handed, and you can see how he held the cane. The palm rested on the right side and down close to the collar, and then further up on the left side is a smaller wear mark from where his thumb would have been:

And also, you can see he's not holding the cane right on top, like most people do. He's holding it down a little. Why? Because it's too tall for him. Lord help me, I love this stuff:

It happens that Cheryl Maslin, the Registrar and Collections Manager at the California Historical Society, was on hand while I was looking at and taking pictures of the cane. She agrees that this is all a credible, even probable, account of the origins of the cane. She asked if I would write it all up in a form that might be presented to people when the cane is brought out for events and display. I'm sure you'll understand I was very glad to agree.

Finally, I must acknowledge my dear friend, Dr. Jen Anderson for setting my feet on the right path, here. She studied Irish Art History, with a focus on devotional Irish woodwork, at no less a place than Trinity College, Dublin, and I am absolutely indebted to her expertise.

Cheers,

Arthur K.