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"It was my preferred entertainment when I was a kid, so when I set out to be a writer, it was perfectly natural that I should write the sort of stories that I used to enjoy reading."
- John Brunner

Butler-Valet Robot  
  A gentleman's servant, roboticized.  

"I have your butler-valet combo here all fitted with the special custom-built adjustments you ordered..."

The man in the visored helmet inserted a convoluted length of iridium - an official Robot Master Key - into the back of the robot's neck. Two full clanking turns and the machinery purred. Eyebrow ridges clinked upward. Multi-linked lips pursed questioningly.

"My fiancee, Josephine Lilly... designed it," Lester told him proudly. "Her idea of what a butler-valet combo should look like - sort of in the ancient English tradition..."

Technovelgy from The Jester, by William Tenn.
Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1951
Additional resources -

Compare to the electrical valet from The Lord of Tranerica (1939) by Stanton A. Coblentz, the robant from The Impossible Planet (1953) by Philip K. Dick, the consumption robots from The Midas Plague (1954) by Frederik Pohl, the robutler from The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970) by Harry Harrison and the autobutle from The Godmakers (1972) by Frank Herbert.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Jester
  More Ideas and Technology by William Tenn
  Tech news articles related to The Jester
  Tech news articles related to works by William Tenn

Butler-Valet Robot-related news articles:
  - Toyota's Human Support Robot - Your Robot Butler
  - A.L.O. Robot Butler Serves You At Aloft Hotel

Articles related to Robotics
Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
Finally, Robot Conductors On Autonomous Buses
RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots

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