Blank HTML SELECT without blank item in dropdown list

Answer 1

For purely html @isherwood has a great solution. For jQuery, give your select drop down an ID then select it with jQuery:

<form>
  <select id="myDropDown">
    <option value="0">aaaa</option>
    <option value="1">bbbb</option>
  </select>
</form> 

Then use this jQuery to clear the drop down on page load:

$(document).ready(function() {
    $('#myDropDown').val(''); 
});

Or put it inside a function by itself:

$('#myDropDown').val(''); 

accomplishes what you're looking for and it is easy to put this in functions that may get called on your page if you need to blank out the drop down without reloading the page.