--- description: This is why it just didn't work to abolish the practice title: End Tipping: How a Railroad Tried and Failed in 1950 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ddeba2151c16be5/698778922dce018e5a9dccdf/money-dollar-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Abolishing Tipping Failed in 1950  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 1, 2015 3:00 PM CUT  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 1, 2015 3:00 PM CUT The idea of putting an end to tipping has been gaining some traction the United States recently, with [some restaurants](http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/5-Bay-Area-restaurants-taking-tips-off-table-5843781.php "undefined") deciding to ban the practice and [restaurant experts](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/dining/leaving-a-tip-a-custom-in-need-of-changing.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&%5Fr=0 "undefined") also speaking up, especially as momentum builds for increasing the minimum that tipped servers would take home. But this isn’t the first time a business has tried to make that change. For example, in the late 1940s, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad declared that tipping in its dining cars was “unworthy of American labor” and “an imposition on the customer.” But the change didn’t stick. In 1950, the company went back to the old way. It turned out that not tipping was just too darn awkward. Here what happened, as TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1950-06-05/page/20/ "undefined") back then: --- > “” --- **_Read more about the minimum-wage debate, here in TIME:_** [The Real Meaning of $9 an Hour](http://time.com/3723595/the-real-meaning-of-9-an-hour/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3748055/abolishing-tipping-1950/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3748055/abolishing-tipping-1950/"},"headline":"Why Abolishing Tipping Failed in 1950","datePublished":"2015-04-01T15:00:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:13:44.411Z","description":"Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad reported customers lacked the courage to kick the habit","url":"https://time.com/3748055/abolishing-tipping-1950/","keywords":["Economy","Business topic","Tips","tipping"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ddeba2151c16be5/698778922dce018e5a9dccdf/money-dollar-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ddeba2151c16be5/698778922dce018e5a9dccdf/money-dollar-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Money Dollar Bills","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Money Dollar Bills","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3748055/abolishing-tipping-1950/","name":"Why Abolishing Tipping Failed in 1950"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A History Of The Minimum Wage","description":"See who raised the minimum wage and when throughout history.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KFNoRaXc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-28T17:21:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KFNoRaXc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3748055/abolishing-tipping-1950/","duration":"PT3M56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3748055/abolishing-tipping-1950/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```