The vibe around tipping has changed somewhat with the arrival of what, for many of us, is an increasingly cashless society. In the old days you could leave some coins and crumpled notes on the table of a restaurant, safe in the knowledge that it wouldn’t be counted until after you’d gone. But these days, and due to the proliferation of tip screens in point of sale systems, you’re more likely to have a device brought to the table by your server with suggested options for the tip – 10%, 15%, 20% or even 30% – with a final option being “No Tip”. It’s hard to press “No Tip” in front of the person who has been serving you all day/night, even if you don’t feel it’s deserved. It turns your exit into a walk of shame.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, new layers of complexity impacted the tipping debate. Many service industry workers faced job insecurity during lockdowns, and many people sympathised by increasing their tips. Hard to put that genie back in the bottle.
The custom of tipping has a history that winds through social hierarchies, economic practices and evolving norms of hospitality. While its precise origins are debated, historians generally agree that tipping finds its roots in medieval Europe, where it emerged as a gesture among nobility.
In the feudal system, landowners would provide small monetary gifts, called "vails”, to their servants as a token of appreciation for their hard work. Over time, these "vails" became institutionalised, and guests visiting noble households were expected to leave similar tokens for the staff who attended to them. This practice gradually moved from private homes into public establishments such as inns and taverns.
The term "tip" itself may have arisen in 17th-century England. Some suggest it originated as an acronym for "To Insure Promptitude”, although this claim is likely apocryphal. A more plausible explanation traces the word to the thieves’ cant "tip”, meaning "to give" or "hand over”.
In some languages, the term translates to “drink money” or similar: for example, pourboire in French, Trinkgeld in German, drikkepenge in Danish, drinksilver in Middle Scots and napiwek in Polish. This comes from a custom of inviting a servant to drink a glass, paid for by the master, in honour of his or her guest.
By the 18th and 19th centuries, tipping had spread across Europe and begun to take hold in the United States, albeit with mixed reception. While travellers adopted the European custom, many Americans viewed it with skepticism. Some saw tipping as a holdover from aristocratic privilege, inconsistent with egalitarian ideals.
In the United States, the end of slavery saw employers, especially in hospitality and rail service, leveraging tipping to justify low or unpaid labour. Newly freed Black Americans often worked as servers, porters and hotel staff, jobs that depended heavily on gratuities. This legacy fostered ongoing debates about the morality and fairness of tipping as both a social expectation and a substitute for fair wages.
Meanwhile, tipping expanded globally with the growth of international travel and commerce. Customs vary by country, with some cultures embracing the practice and others, such as Japan, largely rejecting it in favour of inclusive pricing. In these countries, tipping can either be seen as a misunderstanding of local norms or an inappropriate gesture, as their service industries emphasise fairness and inclusivity in pricing or wages.
Finally, in modern practice, some establishments use a "tronc" system to manage tips, particularly in the United Kingdom. Derived from the French word for a collection box, a tronc pools tips together to distribute them among employees fairly. A designated troncmaster [Ed: What an awesome title] oversees this process, ensuring both transparency and compliance with tax laws.
Today, tipping remains a socially polarising topic. Proponents argue it rewards good service and incentivises excellence. Critics, however, point to its inconsistencies and potential for exploitation.
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References
wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuity
smh.com.au/goodfood/tips-and-advice/the-golden-rules-of-tipping-or-how-to-avoid-awkward-conversations-with-waiters
culturefrontier.com/tipping-when-did-we-start-paying-extra-and-why/
nytimes.com/2024/08/29/podcasts/the-daily/tipping-trump-harris
Images
1. Increasingly ubiquitous tip screen. Credit: NYT Daily Podcast
2. Drikkepenge. Credit: annevibekerejser.de
3. Old school tipping with change on the restaurant table. Photo credit: Adeeto
4. Gratuity graphic. Credit: thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com
5. A tip jar in a New Jersey restaurant. Photo credit: Tomwsulcer
6. “No Tax on Tips” US elections campaign event in Il Toro E La Capra restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada, 23 August 2024. Photo credit: David Swanson | Reuters
