# Tip jar

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{{Short description|Containers used for collecting gratuities}}
[[File:Jar for tips at a restaurant in New Jersey.JPG|thumb|right|200px|A tip jar in a [New Jersey](/source/New_Jersey) restaurant]]
A '''tip jar''' (also known as a '''tip cup''') is a container, commonly a glass jar, into which customers can put a [gratuity](/source/gratuity). A tip jar is usually situated at the point-of-sale at many businesses.  Although common in many countries around the world, tip jars in food and drink establishments are ubiquitous in the [United States](/source/United_States).

The tip jar has become a source of controversy. Customers may feel discouraged from patronizing establishments using them. They may also feel that tip jars are inappropriate at certain types of establishments such as movie-theater concession counters, dry cleaners, take-out restaurants, gym locker rooms or grocery bagger's work stations. Many feel social pressure to use them,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/09/13/biz_biz1jars.html |title=The culture of tip jars |publisher=Enquirer.com |date=2004-09-13 |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref> or that they are paying too high a total price when purchasing a simple item.<ref>{{cite web|author=[Susannah Cahalan](/source/Susannah_Cahalan) |url=https://nypost.com/2010/04/11/tip-jar-madness-takes-city/ |title=Tip-jar madness takes city &#124; New York Post |publisher=Nypost.com |date=2010-04-11 |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref>

==History==
The tip jar may have originated hundreds of years ago. A 1946 editorial in ''Life'' claimed that 
English taverns used prominently displayed urns for tips that were labelled 'To Insure [Promptitude](/source/%3Awiktionary%3Apromptitude)'. However, there is no historical evidence to support this.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.delmartimes.net/2011/09/29/kitchen-shrink-counter-culture-the-tip-jar-you/ |title=Kitchen Shrink: Counter Culture: The tip jar and you |publisher=Del Mar Times |date=2011-09-29 |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | url=http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1267&context=jbl&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DTO%2BINSURE%2BPROMPTITUDE%2Bsite%253Aedu%26go%3DSubmit%26qs%3Dds%26form%3DQBRE%26filt%3Dall#search=%22INSURE%20PROMPTITUDE%20site%3Aedu%22 | title=The Case Against Tipping | access-date=2024-08-11 | journal=University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law| volume=9 | page=4 | first=Yoram | last=Margalioth }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=tip&searchmode=none |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |date=1946-07-15 |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref>

==Proceeds==
Usually, the accumulated tips are divided among all of the workers during the shift.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sj-r.com/article/20090610/News/306109892 |title=Tip jars: The new counter culture - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL |publisher=Sj-r.com |date=2009-06-10 |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref> In one case, a court case resulted when supervisors and assistant managers claimed that they were entitled to a share at a [Starbucks](/source/Starbucks) coffee outlet in New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0528/Starbucks-tip-jar-at-the-center-of-NY-high-court-case-video |title=Starbucks tip jar at the center of NY high court case (+video) |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date=2013-05-28 |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref>

==At piano bars==
A pianist at a [piano bar](/source/piano_bar) may earn tips from a tip jar to supplementing the normally small salary. This may be a basket, jar, or oversized brandy snifter placed on or near the piano. Tips may be given by customers who have been played a song that was requested by being written on a napkin.<ref>Swenson, John. [http://www.offbeat.com/2008/12/01/pat-obriens-the-songs-remain-the-same/ "Pat O'Brien's: The Song Remains the Same"], offbeat.com, August 20, 2012</ref>

==Digital tip jar==
This allows customers to swipe their credit card in a simulated tip jar. The card reader is set to charge a certain amount, normally one dollar. Customer wishing to tip more can swipe the card numerous times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/5940404/digital-tip-jar-lets-you-leave-a-dollar-with-your-credit-card |title=Digital Tip Jar Lets You Leave a Dollar With Your Credit Card |publisher=Gizmodo.com |date= 4 September 2012|accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Funaro |first=Kaitlin |url=http://www.marketplace.org/topics/your-money/ask-money/tip-jar-gets-digital-makeover |title=The tip jar gets a digital makeover |publisher=Marketplace.org |date=2014-06-06 |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref>

Payment kiosks operated with software and hardware from companies like [Square](/source/Square_(financial_services)) also act as a digital tip jar, encouraging people to click a tip button. However, Square has been criticized in the past for encouraging customers to leave gratuity out of guilt. These "tip screens" have also been blamed for accelerating [tipflation](/source/tipflation) in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Brian X. |date=2023-03-01 |title=Tech Is Allowing Businesses to Overcharge You in Tips |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/technology/personaltech/tipping-defaults-digital-payments.html |access-date=2023-04-05 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-17 |title=Digital Tip Jars: New tipping trend has customers sweating it out at checkout counter |url=https://abc7ny.com/tipping-digital-tip-jar-guide-system/12583116/ |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=ABC7 New York |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Tip jars}}
*[Mandatory tipping](/source/Mandatory_tipping)
*[Tipflation](/source/Tipflation)

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Money containers
Category:Gratuity

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tip jar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_jar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_jar?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.