TIPPING
AN UN-AMERICAN CUSTOM
Everyone knows that tipping is a European custom and is entirely
un-American in principle. But while the custom is observed as widely in
this country as it is to-day, it is both inconsiderate and bad form to
ignore it. The wages of waiters end waitresses, porters and hotel
servants are outrageously small, for the reason that they receive tips
for each service they perform for individual guests and travelers. If
the tipping custom were abolished, the wages of these people would be
correspondingly increased; but as things are now, it is inconsiderate to
deprive them of the tips that both they and their employers expect that
they will receive.
In a little tea shop in Fifth Avenue in New York, the following is
printed on the back of each menu: "Tipping is an un-American custom.
Help us abolish it by adding 10c to the amount of your bill. At the end
of the week, the waiter will receive the entire amount added to his
wages." Patrons have greeted this plan enthusiastically. They feel that
it presages the ultimate abolition of a custom that has long been in
disrepute because it is so distinctly un-American. The waiters in this
progressive little tea-room serve each patron with the same degree of
courtesy and respect; there is no fawning servility, no unfair dividing
of service between two patrons.
Let us hope that before long all restaurants and hotels will follow the
lead of the little tea-shop that revolts against the undemocratic custom
of tipping. But for the present, while it remains a national custom, we
must know when to tip and how to tip, and the correct amounts.
In certain states, as in South Carolina, tipping is illegal. In this
case as in all others of a like nature, the rules of etiquette are set
aside in favor of the statutes of the law.
LAVISH TIPPING
The man or woman who gives a waiter or a porter a tip that is entirely
incommensurate with that individual's services, is not impressing by his
generosity, but is earning the derision of the servants for his lack of
_savoir faire_. Extravagance in tipping is like extravagance in any
other form--it is decidedly vulgar.
A servant should be tipped according to the amount of service rendered.
The hall-boy who brings you a pitcher of ice-water should not receive
the same amount as the waiter who serves a full course dinner. Nor
should the maid who cares for your room be forgotten while the porter
who carries your trunks is handsomely rewarded for his few minutes'
service.
IN DINING-ROOM OR DINING-CAR
At a hotel, when a guest expects to stay for a long time, he may reward
the waiter in the dining-room for his services at the end of each week.
One dollar is considered the correct amount for a woman guest for a
week's service in the dining-room, and one dollar and a half for the
gentleman guest. Individual tips should amount to ten per cent. of the
bill.
In the dining-car a tip of twenty-five cents is sufficient for the
services rendered a man or woman. The woman who travels alone may leave
twenty-five cents for the waiter in the dining-car. The man who travels
alone should leave ten per cent. of the bill, or more according to the
services received.
The woman who travels with children and stops at a hotel dining-room or
a restaurant along the route, for dinner, should remember that children
always require extra service and trouble, and the waiter or waitress
should be tipped accordingly. A woman with one child should leave a
twenty-five cent tip; and when there are more children the tip should be
increased so as to be commensurate with the services received.
AT THE HOTEL
Women are never expected to tip as generously as men. At a hotel, the
woman should remember the hall-boy, the chamber-maid, the porter, and
the waiter in the dining-room. When her stay is a short one, twenty-five
cents apiece is sufficient for each one, except the hall-boy, who is
given a tip of ten cents whenever he performs an individual service. If
her stay is longer, she should tip according to the amount of service
received from each servant.
The man at the hotel is not expected to tip the chamber-maid unless she
performs some very special service for him. But he tips all others who
serve him in any way. The porter should receive ten cents for each
trunk that he carries to the room, and more if he performs additional
service. Ten cents is adequate compensation for the bell-boy whenever he
performs some service, and it should be forthcoming immediately upon the
completion of that service.
Both men and women guests are expected to tip a hotel employee whom they
send out on an errand in proportion to the services rendered. If the
trip to be taken is a long one, and entails a great deal of trouble. The
tip should be a generous one.
THE TAXI-DRIVER
In large cities where taxicabs are fitted with meters that give the
exact amount of ground covered and the corresponding cost, the traveler
has nothing to fear. He may pay the amount with full confidence that he
is not being over-charged. His tip should be fifteen or twenty-five
cents, according to the length of the trip; or if the taxi-driver has
been specially requested to make the trip in the shortest possible time,
and if the distance covered is unusually long, a tip of fifty cents
should be forthcoming.
But in some small towns where taxicabs have no meters, unsuspecting
strangers are often forced to pay twice or even three times as much as
the trip is actually worth. For this reason, it is always wise to know
exactly the values of certain trips, and the careful man or woman will
know when it is worth one dollar and when it is worth three. To
remonstrate with the driver when you feel that he has excessively
overcharged is to discourage his future attempts to do the same thing to
others. A distance of twenty city blocks--or one mile--should never
amount to more than fifty cents; from this figure it should be easy to
compute what longer trips should cost.
There is no more reason why exorbitant tips should be paid the
taxi-driver than the waiter. He performs no greater service, except in
unusual cases, such as catching a train in time or getting you to a
physician quickly. The amount of the tip should be in proportion to the
amount of the bill, if the trip is just an ordinary one.
ON THE TRAIN
The man in the baggage room who gathers together and checks the trunks
will expect a tip of at least twenty-five cents. A woman may offer less
than this--but never less than ten cents. To the porter who carries the
hand luggage aboard the train and finds a comfortable seat for the
traveler, a tip of fifteen or twenty-five cents should be given, and the
parlor car porter who performs many little services during the trip
should be similarly tipped.
When the railroad journey is longer than twenty-four hours, the man and
woman will find that they have several people to tip in the sleeper. The
porter who makes the beds and blackens the boots will expect nothing
less than twenty-five cents, and for extra service he is entitled to
extra compensation. Others who perform services are tipped in amounts
that are commensurate with the services rendered, and immediately upon
the performance of those services.
CROSSING THE OCEAN
It was on a German steamship that the custom of raising a contribution
for the band of musicians originated. Some steamships to-day still
observe this custom, but on better ships, where the musicians are of a
high order, it has been abolished. If the collection is made, at the end
of the journey, each passenger should feel it incumbent upon him to
contribute at least twenty-five cents. Fifty cents is not too much, and
some people who have particularly enjoyed the music, offer one dollar or
even more. It is very bad form, indeed, to refuse to contribute to this
fund.
The servants to be remembered on the steamship are the bedroom steward,
the table, deck and bathroom stewards, the stewardess, and the boy who
blackens the boots. Masculine passengers do not tip the stewardess
unless she has rendered them special service. Tips to the servants
mentioned above should be governed by the amount of service rendered.
For instance, if a woman passenger has been ill all the way across, she
is expected to give a generous tip to the stewardess who has nursed her.
Five dollars would not be considered extravagant in this case. The man
who has been ill should be just as generous with the bedroom steward and
all others who have attended him.
When leaving the ship, no one who has been of any service whatever
should be forgotten. The porter who helps you with your hand luggage and
sees you safely down the gang plank should be rewarded with no less than
twenty-five cents.
TIPS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Americans in Germany, England or France should learn at once the values
of German, English and French money. Otherwise they may make mistakes
that will cost them quite a bit. For instance, an American woman in
England recently gave a crown to a hotel maid, thinking that it was
equivalent to our quarter. The maid realized that the woman did not know
the value of it, and she explained it to her. But the traveler must
remember that not all servants are so scrupulous.
Tips in foreign countries should be given on the same basis as the ones
given to those who serve us here in America. Extravagance is bad form,
and not to give at all is niggardly. The amount of the tip should always
be commensurate with the service performed. Americans have every right
to expect respectful and courteous treatment wherever they chance to be,
and they must not feel that they are expected to pay exorbitant fees to
obtain it.