How Tips And Tipping Began

I’m way off the usual themes for this blog, today the subject is tips or tipping! In rummaging through some old archives I came across an explanation as to where the word tip came from and how tipping started.

In 1938 the Telegraph wrote:

Old English Inns are responsible for the the term. They had small boxes with the inscription To Insure Promptness, into which patrons dropped coins. Tip came from the first letters of these words.

Wikipedia states:

The practice of tipping began in Tudor England [1485 and 1603]. By the 17th century, it was expected that overnight guests to private homes would provide sums of money, known as vails, to the host’s servants. Soon afterwards, customers began tipping in London coffee houses and other commercial establishments.

That’s it!

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