Whatever the origins of the word, by the late 18th century, it had become increasingly customary in England and other parts of Europe to give tips to servants in domestic and commercial settings. In the early history of the United States, however, tipping remained uncommon and was subject to intense criticism. The practice of giving vails in England was wrapped up in long-standing European class distinctions between the tipper (wealthy aristocrats) and the recipients (servants). Many Americans viewed this practice as antithetical to the country's founding egalitarian principles. A good example of this sentiment can be found in The Itching Palm, an anti-tipping book written by author and social activist William R. Scott in 1916.
"In an aristocracy a waiter may accept a tip and be servile without violating the ideals of the system. In the American democracy to be servile is incompatible with citizenship," wrote Scott. "Every tip given in the United States is a blow at our experiment in democracy."
Another reason why tipping may have been slow to take off in America is that, early on, the country lacked many of the commercial establishments where tipping was becoming common in Europe. Stand-alone restaurants were virtually unheard of in America before the Civil War. As Marc Mentzer, professor of human resources and organizational behavior at the University of Saskatchewan, documented in a 2013 article in the International Journal of Management, early American hotels were generally small and more akin to a modern bed and breakfast. They were typically run by a single proprietor with meals included in the price of lodging. Guests would eat together with the proprietor, family style. Mentzer writes that meals at inns and taverns were meant to invoke family meals at home with the proprietor as head of the household, and tipping would be unthinkable in that context. By the 20th century, however, this would all change.
Tipping Gains a Toehold
Just as historians don't entirely agree when and where in the world tipping started, there is also disagreement about why Americans started to warm to the practice.
"I don't know that you can just point to one or two things," says Lynn of Cornell University. "Everything that I've read suggests that tipping really took off in this country after the Civil War. Americans traveling to Europe picked up the custom there and brought it back home with them."