Walsh was busy looking at the plump “Big White Rabbit,” glanced at the price tag, and nodded absentmindedly, “If you like it, buy it.”
“Thank you, dear!” his wife immediately summoned a staff member.
However, she soon regretted it, because the model that came out afterward was wearing a purple puff skirt that captivated her heart even more than the green dress she had just seen.
The following fashions were one more trendy and beautiful than the next, Mrs. Walsh was already dazzled, with the sole thought of “buying everything” in her mind.
An hour later, the first fashion show ended.
Mrs. Walsh, after desperately restraining herself over and over, only purchased three outfits. She also bought a dark blue suit for her husband.
Mr. Walsh, having feasted his eyes on slender waists and “Big White Rabbits,” only realized when paying that he needed to fork out nearly 40 British pounds!
This was in gold pounds, with 1 pound equating to approximately 25 livres.
Yet, this British wool merchant still paid the bill with a light heart.
Who knows how many customers from various countries were in a similar situation. Only after the 23 staff members responsible for pre-sales worked until 4 a.m., their hands beginning to cramp, did they finally manage to sort all the orders.
The British journalist Alvin, who came with Mr. Walsh, immediately rushed back to his reserved room, compiled over ten pages of fashion week articles, and sent them back to England overnight.
That night, the Walsh couple dined at the “Royal Restaurant” on the first floor of the Tuileries Palace, tasting authentic French court cuisine—beetroot-baked snails, Crown Prince oysters, pan-fried goose liver with cherry jam, red wine truffle roasted pigeon…
A table full of delicacies had the couple from the culinary desert eating in rapture, dripping in grease, eventually having to support themselves against the wall as they left the restaurant.
Although they had to queue for over 40 minutes for this meal and spent 1 pound and 12 shillings, they felt it was completely worth it.
After returning to the Tuileries Palace, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh had intended to have a few drinks, but on the way, they saw a brightly lit hall filled with various curious machines, brimming with laughter and cheer. They were immediately drawn to it.
The interpreter and guide accompanying them pointed to the hall and told them, “This is an amusement arcade, there are many interesting games to play inside.”
Curious, Mr. Walsh entered and immediately saw a young man, who seemed to be of Spanish descent, pull hard on a lever in front of a machine that was taller than a man. The machine’s drums began to spin rapidly.
The Spaniard watched the drums intently, murmuring, “Stop! Stop!”
Suddenly, the front drum stopped, displaying a yellow iris emblem of the French Royal Family.
Then, the middle drum stopped, also showing an iris.
The Spaniard’s breathing became rapid.
Soon, the last drum began to slow down, shifting slowly from a sword to an apple, and finally settling on an iris.
The young Spaniard cheered wildly, leaping up and punching the air in excitement.
The machine emitted a series of “ding-dong” chimes, and the Spaniard bent down to collect a wooden box from the bottom part of the machine. Inside were full of silver coins, at least seventy or eighty.
“What’s this?” Mr. Walsh asked the guide in surprise, turning his head.
The latter gestured towards the machine, “Mr. Walsh, this thing is called ‘Slot Machine’. You put in one livre to pull that lever once. The drums inside will spin, and if they stop on three identical patterns, you can win several times, or even dozens of times the amount in silver coins in return.”
“The young gentleman just now won the highest return multiple—a hundred times.”
Walsh was immediately intrigued and looked around, but found that the dozens of machines in the hall were all occupied.
Eventually, for the price of 10 livres, he got hold of a slot machine from a middle-aged man and, unable to wait, he dropped a livre into the coin slot and pulled the handle with force.
After the drums whirred to a stop, they landed on a cat, a shield, and an “X.”
Clearly, he didn’t win anything.
He pursed his lips, inserted another coin, and still came up empty.
It wasn’t until his 15th pull that finally, three apples appeared on the reel, and the crisp sound of silver coins clashing emanated from below the machine.
Walsh took out the wooden box, excitedly picked up the five silver coins inside, looking even happier than if he had won five British Pounds.
An hour later, Mrs. Walsh, yawning, returned alone to the reserved room on the second floor.
Mr. Walsh, seeing that the machine next to him which shot out marbles was unoccupied, curiously moved over to it.
He inserted a coin, pulled the lever, and the marble bounced around inside the machine before landing in a hole marked x3. Three silver coins dropped out from the bottom of the machine.
Walsh was overjoyed and immediately “transferred his affections”, starting to focus on playing the pinball machine.
The entertainment machines in this hall were specially prepared by Joseph for celebrations like fashion week.
The internal structure of these machines was not complicated at all: springs and flywheels, along with some gears, were enough. Craftsmen from over ten clock shops in Paris had spent months manufacturing them, and they were much simpler than clocks.
Even though they were very simple gaming machines, people of this era had never seen anything like them. One after another, they became seemingly enchanted, repeatedly pulling the handles or levers, unable to stop.
And in the Tuileries Palace, there were more than 70 such machines. Each one voraciously swallowing the visitors’ silver coins.
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When it was past 3 a.m., Mrs. Walsh woke up with a start, realizing her husband still hadn’t returned to the room, she hurriedly got dressed and rushed to the amusement hall, only to see Mr. Walsh with bloodshot eyes but an excited spirit, still incessantly pulling the lever…
The next day.
There were no fashion shows in the morning or at noon.
So, after breakfast, Mrs. Walsh dragged her husband, who had dark circles under his eyes covering half his face, to the Eden Amusement Park, which everyone was raving about as “extremely fun” and “a place you would regret not visiting for the rest of your life”.
At the park’s entrance, which seemed as if it had been brought from a fairytale world, several workers dressed up as “giant rats” with fluffy black round ears, big eyes, and pointy noses were greeting the visitors everywhere.
Well, these adorable mascots were actually Mickey Mouse of later times.
But in the 18th century, there was no Disney to trouble Joseph, so he had unhesitatingly copied them over.
A large number of visitors were attracted by the adorably cute appearance of Mickey Mouse, either following them or cautiously touching their heads, while exclaiming “wow” in amazement from time to time.
And Mickey was very enthusiastically pointing out the location of the ticket window for everyone.
The ticket price was not cheap at all — for unlimited access to all the amusement facilities, plus free tea and snacks, it was 30 livres per person. To choose four steam-powered entertainment facilities, it was 18 livres per person, without drinks and desserts.
Mr. Walsh generously took out 2 British Pounds and 10 shillings and handed it to the ticket seller — for unlimited play — and then entered the amusement park with his wife.
His wife, who was past thirty, immediately turned into a girl in her teens, frolicking and laughing between the carousel and the tea cup rides.
Once Mrs. Walsh had her fill of fun, she then pulled her husband along to go to the main store of the Paris Angel Exclusive Store — although England also had a franchise store, it was said that a new product called “Eye Cream” had hit the market in the Paris main store, and there was a recent discount, so how could she not go on a shopping spree?
They were originally going to call for a carriage, but just then a public stagecoach arrived at the station. Following the guide’s recommendation, they curiously boarded the large stagecoach that could accommodate 25 people.
Two horses pulled the stagecoach along the newly laid wooden track. The wheels encountered very little resistance, making the speed of travel quick. And because the carriage was equipped with a new type of leaf spring suspension system, and the wooden track itself was very smooth, there was virtually no sensation of bumpiness inside the carriage.
Mrs. Walsh felt as comfortable as if she were boating on a creek.
She looked around in delight: “This carriage is really nice.”
The guide immediately responded at the right moment: “You have a good eye! This is made using the technology of Royal Carriages. Similar carriages are now the first choice among Paris’s upper crust.”
Mrs. Walsh quickly asked in a low voice. “How much does such a carriage cost, the kind that seats four people?”
“Probably less than 600 livres.”
Mrs. Walsh immediately looked at her husband with pleading eyes. He nodded generously: “Let’s go check out the carriages tomorrow.”