January 9 in A.A. History

In 1925, in Manchester Center, Vermont, an intoxicated Edwin “Ebby” T., driving home, drove his “straight eight” Packard across a large lot, onto the porch, through the door, and into the kitchen of Mrs. Kate Gilmore and her daughter Elizabeth, striking a stove in the middle of the room, moving it about a foot, and scattering soot. A water pipe was also broken, requiring an immediate call for a plumber to shut off the water. The only damage to the car was a broken fender.
    Neither Ebby, his two passengers, nor the Gilmores were injured. One passenger, realizing they were in a kitchen, “demanded a cup of hot coffee.” Ebby backed the car onto the highway, went to Justice of the Peace Frank Regan in Manchester, and reported the accident. He hadn’t gotten his new driver’s license yet, and the car had a 1924 New York license plate. The next day, Saturday, he was fined $50 [~$901 in 2025] + costs [left: page one article in The Bennington Herald, 12 Jan 1925].

In 1952, the first “Family Groups” office, called the “Clearing-house Committee” began operating out of the 24th Street Clubhouse in New York City.