And now Death Valley Days.
Howdy folks.
I'm the old ranger with a new and exciting yard.
True, mind you, about the historic Death Valley Country from which these unique products come.
20 new team Borax and Boraxum Powdered Hensel.
Now here's a question, Rosemary DeCamp. People ask it all the time.
It's about those four lovely girls. I get it.
People want to know if they're really my own daughters. Yes, they really are all mine.
And believe it or not, this is my baby. Remember when I introduced her to you
several years ago?
This is our baby, Nita Louise. People say she's a doll.
My secret for keeping her so dainty?
Borax, sweet. Now they're growing up, I find that school days bring more laundry
problems.
And play hours too. This is Martha with her pet kinkajou.
All the girls live a free, happy life because their clothes are washable.
Clean, fresh, unfaded, crisp. Thanks to 20 mule team Borax.
Yes, for a better wash, add 20 mule team Borax
to soap or detergent because it speeds
and sweetens.
This story I'm about to tell is laid in San Francisco
during the afterglow of the gold rush. In fact, I don't know of any other
time or place where it could have happened. Only a city like San Francisco
with its generous heart, its sense of humor, its sentimentality
could claim a personage like emperor,
Norton.
Joshua Norton arrived in California by ship in 1849
at the height of the gold rush and immediately established himself
as a commission merchant dealing in all kinds of commodities.
Within a few years he had become one of San Francisco's most prosperous
and respected businessmen with a reputation for shrewdness,
daring, and absolute integrity.
This is the greatest operation he's put over yet,
holding the rice market. Nobody but Norton would be bold enough to risk it.
If it was anyone but Norton, believe me, I never would have gone in on it.
That man can't fail. He's a genius.
Ah, Cooper and Duffy, come in.
Good morning, Norton.
Good morning. Make yourselves comfortable. Thank you.
Well, gentlemen, it looks as though we pulled it off. As of this moment, we
control the entire rice supply of San Francisco.
What about the shipment that arrived yesterday from Peru? It's ours.
I agreed to buy the entire cargo at twelve and a half cents a pound.
Here's the contract. I gave them two thousand dollars cash.
The balance, twenty three thousand dollars, we'll pay out of our profits.
How long do you think we should hold on? Yes, rice was quoted today at thirty two
cents. That's already a profit of a hundred and fifty percent.
It'll go higher. China has prohibited all further exports of rice.
I look for the price to reach forty. When it does, we'll unload.
You have got nerve, Norton. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I think the occasion calls for a little celebration.
Look at these figures. They're simply staggering.
We're sitting on top of the world.
Well, gentlemen, to a very Merry Christmas.
Mr. Norton. And a Happy New Year. News. Telegraph Hill.
Ship come in. Bring rice. Rice? Heap, heap rice.
We're going to get down to the wharf.
We've got to buy it up. The whole cargo? Two hundred and fifty barrels?
If it's dumped on the market, we're ruined. We're already way overextended.
My credit's good. All right.
Lot number one, gentlemen. Fifteen barrels of fine rice, over twelve cents a pound.
Twelve cents? It was thirty-two. It's already dropped twenty points.
Gentlemen, well taken. Sold to Mr. Joshua Norton.
Man, are you crazy? We've got to buy it up. Keep control of the market.
Our profits on the Peruvian rice are already wiped out.
We can recruit them if we just don't lose our nerve.
Mr. Norton, please. Another ship just come through Golden Gate.
With rice? The dragon from China. Two hundred fifty thousand pounds.
Good heavens. So there were to be no further exports from China.
Somebody circulated the rumor maliciously.
We still have a chance. If we throw in all our combined resources.
Not me, I'm through. You'd welch on a contract? What contract?
Your word is gentlemen. Look, Norton, it'll do us no good having our names linked with yours in this big fiasco.
Any association we've had is terminated. Please, gentlemen.
Mr. Norton? Oh, Godfrey. Sit down.
The balance of twenty-three thousand dollars you owe us on the cargo of Peruvian rice.
I don't want it. I have no place to store it. Sell it to somebody else.
At four cents a pound? When you've guaranteed us twelve and a half cents?
I haven't got it. Then we'll sue.
What are you all? A pack of jackals?
The man's in trouble. You fall upon him. Tear him to pieces.
Oh, Mr. DuBois. Mr. Norton. May I have a word with you?
Come in.
Sit down. I'm sorry I can't offer you a cigar, but I've given up smoking.
The matter I have to broach is a rather delicate one.
I owe you money. You have always been one of this hotel's most esteemed guests, Mr. Norton.
However, if you could favor us with a remittance.
Six months in arrears. A certified check, perhaps.
My account at the bank has been closed, Mr. DuBois.
Perhaps you'd accept my watch as partial payment.
It's a good watch. A gift from my parents on the occasion of my twenty-first birthday.
And these cufflinks also are fairly valuable.
And I have several scarf pins. One of them a diamond.
If these articles aren't enough to cover the amount due,
you're welcome to anything in my wardrobe.
Cooper. I say, Cooper.
It's good to see you.
Well, Norton, I thought you'd left town.
No, I'm still around.
Keeping busy?
Quite. I have a number of lawsuits on my hands.
Yes, I read about them. Well, glad to have seen you.
Cooper, I wonder if you could do me a favor.
If it's money, no.
Well, just a small loan.
I've got all I can do to keep my own head above water.
But I could pay you back in a few days.
You don't seem to realize, Norton, these are hard times.
I mean for everybody. We're in the midst of a financial depression here in San Francisco.
I'm quite aware of it.
And I wouldn't be surprised if that fiasco of yours is what touched the whole thing off.
You and your grandiose ideas.
No!
I'm sorry. I'm in a hurry.
I'm sorry I messed up with your grandiose ideas.
But I didn't ruin anybody else.
I'm not responsible for the depression.
I love San Francisco.
Its people are my people.
This town is my town.
This country is my country.
I heard voices about your head company.
Just a minute. I'll just give the price of licking a promise.
You're from London.
Don't you guess?
That's where I was born.
God save the Queen.
I'm a United States citizen now.
Took out my papers when California joined the Union.
God save the President.
Sometimes I think it would be better if we did have a king.
This is a great country, America.
There's something wrong with the way it's being governed.
Look at me.
At one time, I was one of the richest men in San Francisco.
Worth a quarter of a million dollars.
And now, reduced to this.
I've lost everything.
Friends, position, self-respect.
Your wife?
I have no family.
I'm alone in the world.
Of course, me. I've always been poor.
Don't expect to be anything else.
There should be laws against poverty.
Here in the land of plenty, a city built on gold,
we have a depression, business failures, bank closures.
Whose fault is it?
That's what I say.
The men who are running things.
Believe me, if I were the ruler, you'd see great changes.
Things like this would never happen.
I hope you get there, sir, to the White House.
The United States is too big to be a republic, or even a kingdom.
It should be an empire.
If I were emperor, I'd make things right.
I believe in...
Your Majesty.
Finally, he's gone.
Yes, I, Emperor Norton.
I'd like to take a moment to show you how Baraxos' two-way action gets out dirt plain soap can't reach.
It's roll-away action goes after the deep down dirt.
It's melt-away action floats out all the dirt right down into the drain.
Now you start by wetting your hands good.
Then pour on some clean, sanitary Baraxos.
Now here's the roll-away action, where the pure Barax crystals begin to loosen and roll out the deep down dirt.
And you add a little more water.
Now this extra water starts the melt-away action, which floats out the dirt right down the drain.
And here's another thing.
Baraxos leaves the skin soft and smooth, and leaves the towel clean too.
And your hands feel great.
So remember, Baraxos' two-way action gets out dirt that plain soap just can't reach.
Who's still short a copy, Chief, for tonight's edition?
This town is certainly in the doldrums.
No fires, no murders, no new gold strikes.
People aren't even writing letters to the editor.
Looks like I'm going to have to write another editorial.
Oh, well.
Come in.
I wish to see the editor.
I'm the editor.
I have a proclamation I wish published.
At the peremptory request and desire of the large majority of the citizens of these United States,
I, Joshua Norton, for the past nine years and ten months of San Francisco, California,
declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States,
and direct the representatives of the different states of the Union to assemble in musical hall of this city
on the first day of February next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union
as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring,
and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity.
I, Norton I, Emperor of the United States, 17th of September, 1859.
You represent this individual?
I am Emperor Norton.
Give the proclamation a prominent place in your paper.
Oh, yes, sir.
And save me a copy.
Yes, your Majesty.
That's that fellow Norton that fell in that great rice debacle.
Must have unhinged him. Another guy thinks he's Napoleon.
Oh, not Napoleon at all. Emperor of these United States.
Mad as a March Hare.
Writes a superior English. I won't have to do any editing.
You're not really going to publish it.
Certainly I am. San Francisco needs a good laugh.
Besides, this will save me from writing another editorial.
I, Joshua Norton, for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California,
declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States.
I often wondered what happened to him after the crash.
Well, now you know.
Norton I, Emperor of the United States.
17th September, 1859.
Joshua Norton.
Wong all the time running errands for him.
That was his office right there.
Emperor of the United States.
Perhaps if he hadn't turned him out.
What is a hotel keeper to do?
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
A man's mind can suffer just so much it seems.
What will it be, your majesty?
Oh, no drink, thank you. I just regale myself with a little food.
Help yourself. You see our sign up there.
He publishes all those crazy notices of Norton's in the paper.
Dissolving Congress. Abolishing the Supreme Court.
I publish them.
Why?
Why do you do it?
For the same reason that everybody else in San Francisco humors him.
Makes him happy and does no harm.
He can walk into a saloon like this?
He has the freedom of the city.
Eats in the finest restaurants and attends all plays and concerts.
When he enters a theater the whole audience rises and remains standing until he's seated.
Rides free on all public transportation.
He never pays for anything?
Oh, he often pays.
In script, worthless money?
Not at all.
Promissory notes complete with seal and vignette of his majesty.
For the sum of fifty cents at seven percent interest, payable in 1880?
Where in the world does he get this stuff printed?
At our shop.
Printers to his imperial majesty, Norton I?
He promised me the post of chancellor of the Exchequer one of these days.
Give me another drink.
Begging for royal favors, eh?
Here you are, you bummer.
Where did he get his uniform?
Oh, the Presidio keeps them supplied.
Another beggar at my heels.
All that's left is crumbs which are welcome to him.
Like the beggar Lazarus in the Bible.
Blumber and Lazarus, my bodyguards.
This is the day of the month that we collect taxes.
Behave yourselves when we get inside.
These are some of the biggest banks and business houses in San Francisco.
Your tax this month is five dollars.
A slight increase.
But there have been heavy drains of late on the treasury.
A coin of the realm, if you please.
Oh, certainly.
Here's your receipt.
Thank you.
Do you mind if I sit here a minute?
My feet get very tired.
Glad to have you.
I can remember when I used to visit in your office.
How's everything going?
Congress in Washington still continues to defy me.
I've ordered the army to use force if necessary to clear the halls.
I read the manifesto in the paper.
But here in California, the empire is gradually being recognized.
I hope before long to take over the new palace hotel as my headquarters.
It will be an improvement over the place I now live.
Good day, sir.
Good day, your majesty.
I'm Blumber.
I'm Lazarus.
Emperor of Brazil in San Francisco.
Reception tonight in his honor at the University of California.
I have ordered the city officials and other dignitaries to be present.
Did you hear that, Blumber?
Lazarus?
All during my reign, this is as close as I've ever come to the crowned heads of the world.
Now, tonight at last, I shall shake the hand of a fellow emperor.
Good evening, Dr. Gilman.
And how are things at the University of California?
Good evening, sir.
Your university is in fine shape, Emperor Norton.
Your majesty, may I present Emperor Norton of the United States of America.
And protector of Mexico.
This is a great honor.
I trust you are enjoying your sojourn in my capital.
I have toured most of the world, your majesty.
And I am now convinced there's no other city quite like San Francisco.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!
All good Americans!
Mark ye well the words I speak, for I speak from the pages of history.
Come closer, come closer.
This country is in dire straits.
What in the world is he advertising?
Himself.
Just another San Francisco character along with Oofty Goofty and Emperor Norton.
He claims to be the reincarnation of our first president.
Well, I must say, there's a remarkable resemblance.
Uh-oh, look who's coming.
I will see that there is a job for every man.
I will banish all taxes and I will wipe poverty from the face of this fair land.
Rally to the support of George Washington II.
What is the meaning of this?
I am the spirit of 76, the father of our country.
Why, you, you humbug, you imposter!
How dare you perpetrate such a fraud on the people of San Francisco, my loyal subjects?
Your subjects? This is a republic.
This is an empire. I'll have you banished for sedition.
George Washington, indeed. You're an insult to his memory, a disgrace to the American people.
Get out before I call the police. Get out!
Never dare show your face within these borders again, sirrah.
Hooray!
I guess that'll teach him and any other pretender that I am the one and only Emperor Norton.
Hooray, Emperor Norton!
For 21 years, Joshua Norton, always seen with his two dogs, Bummer and Lazarus, ruled his imaginary empire.
Loved, humored, supported in his harmless fantasies.
Maybe some of them weren't so fantastic at that.
Now take the manifesto published in 1869,
commanding a suspension bridge to be built from San Francisco to Oakland by way of Yerba Buena.
And people laughed.
But here it is today, San Francisco Bay Bridge.
Following almost exactly the specifications the Emperor laid down.
And when in 1880 his reign came to a peaceful end,
members of the Pacific Union Club on Nob Hill, an organization of prominent San Franciscans,
whose present clubhouse you see here, provided the money for his funeral,
and subscribed the funds for the stone which marks his final resting place in the woodlawn Masonic Cemetery of San Francisco.
Emperor Norton, come into his own class.
Now let's see what Rosemary de Camp is doing.
With four children to raise, I have plenty to do.
But there's one thing I absolutely insist on for my family's health.
Keeping my refrigerator and food containers, such as bread, cake, and lunch boxes, thermos bottles, corks, coffee pots,
truly clean and borax sweet when you soak and rinse them in 20 mule teen borax.
The dishcloth too should be borax sweet.
Prove to yourself how important this is.
Make our famous sniff test.
Not pleasant.
But wait.
A few minutes later, what a difference.
It's fresh and sweet.
Borax sweet.
Not a cover-up perfume, mind you.
But nature sweet, the borax way.
That's why we have twice as many users in the last five years.
I'll be with you again two weeks from now with another True Death Valley Day story.
And until then, I'll say so long.
Remember, borax sweet clothes.
Hi, Chuck.
And borax-o clean hands.
That's me.
So long.