eli5 How did the US service industry become so reliant on consumer tips to function?
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So, I’ve seen a lot of profoundly incorrect answers here derived from commonly repeated myths on Reddit. As someone who has worked in public history, I’m not surprised but I hope I can help shine some light on this interesting feature of American life.
The actual explanation can be found quite easily on the Wikipedia page concerning the [history of gratuity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuity). In summation, gratuity was often frowned upon in the US because it was perceived as a way of ‘bribing’ the wait staff. In fact, tipping was outlawed in a number of US states (eg: Washington and Mississippi). The perception being that the staff would over serve a patron if they knew that they were being tipped. In a sense it was seen as a form of corruption. This norm changed following prohibition because the restaurant industry was losing huge revenue due to the lack of alcohol sales. So as a way of keeping wait staff employed restaurants began allowing servers to be paid a gratuity by customers. The practice became the norm even after prohibition ended and became the largest portion of a servers income.
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