Emperor Norton’s 7th Annual Tannenbaum Toast | Union Square

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Ninety years ago, in 1929, the first great tree went up in Union Square, San Francisco, during the Yuletide season.

The tree returned for the 1930 holiday — but not again until more than 50 years later, in 1983. There has been an unbroken line of monumental trees in Union Square every holiday season since then — but, the “great tree” tradition in Union Square turns out to be of relatively recent vintage.

A certain legend has it that it was Emperor Norton who originally called for the Union Square tree — and that he did so thinking that such a display would bring particular delight to children.

7th Annual Tannenbaum Toast
Sunday, December 8, 2019 | 4 pm-6 pm
– House of Shields (39 New Montgomery St.) Toast: 5 pm
FREE, but there’s a cash bar and donations are gratefully accepted.

Kick off the holidays in regal style. Join The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign, on the second Sunday afternoon in December, for The Seventh Annual Tannenbaum Toast.

The event, which takes place on the second Sunday of December, is held at The House of Shields — a beautifully restored 1913 bar that is just a short walk from Union Square. The formal toast will be at 5 pm. The drink for the Toast itself is The House of Shields’s version of the classic Boothby cocktail — created in 1908 by legendary San Francisco bartender William T. “Cocktail” Boothby, during his tenure at the Palace Hotel, just across the street.

Join and raise a glass to Norton I. And learn more about the Campaign’s efforts to honor the life and advance the legacy of Emperor Norton — and to become recognized as the leading public resource on the Emperor.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.