JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<select id=foo type=x><option value='x'></select>
<script>
/* this alerts "object" under IE and "string" under Chrome */
alert(typeof($('#foo').val()));
</script>
<select id=foo type=x><option value='x'></select>
<script>
/* this alerts "object" under IE and "string" under Chrome */
alert(typeof($('#foo').val()));
</script>