The Unlucky Mr. Joffrey and the Ten Dollar Holiday Gift
A Seattle resident’s New Year’s generosity backfires when a 'drunken' battery-powered motor leads to a night in police court.
Mr. H. H. Joffrey, of the New York market, last week had a small break in his recent holiday battery. The day after New Year’s, Mr. Joffrey entertained a number of guests at dinner, and his battery, which was supposed to play the flute for the guests around him, began to dance around the room. When Mr. Joffrey tried to force it to retire, it not only refused to do so, but turned over. Finally, the police were called, and the battery was toted off to a police court, where it had to pay its fine with a ten dollar gold piece, which Mr. Joffrey had intended to give to it as a New Year's present the day before.
“The day after New Year’s, Mr. Joffrey entertained a number of guests at dinner, and his battery, which was supposed to play the flute for the guests around him, began to dance around the room.”
This oddity from 1886 shows that Seattle’s relationship with temperamental technology—and the tendency to treat mechanical failures as quasi-criminal public nuisances—has a longer history than today’s headlines about autonomous vehicles or malfunctioning AI might suggest. Even then, the frustration of a 'smart' device turning on its owner was a punchline for the evening news.
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