Joshua Norton was an Englishman who came to San Francisco in 1849 and made a fortune in the import business. But he lost it all in a risky business venture. He apparently lost his marbles, too, as he soon after declared himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States, and he strolled the streets for the next 21 years regally accepting the greetings of his loyal subjects. Lu Watters wrote this tune in 1944 to honor the Emperor’s crazy idea to build a bridge across the San Francisco Bay. It took almost 60 years for his wild idea to become reality. “Emperor Norton’s Hunch”.