Tour Guides Test Limits of a Truly Free Market

"More than anything else, I want the tour to be factual," says Davis, who recalls hearing guides on other tours tell about how when the elevator in the Washington Monument first opened to the public, authorities tried to overcome public fears of the newfangled machine by offering free whiskey to any man brave enough to ride the car up and back. Davis says he "found out there was no way the government would offer whiskey to people and no ban on women and children riding the elevator."

So Davis instead tells the (true) story of Gabby Street. On an August morning in 1908, the catcher for the Washington Senators caught a baseball dropped from the top of the Monument, pocketed a $500 prize, walked away dazed by the impact and went on to catch Walter Johnson's pitching in a 3-1 victory over Detroit that day.

If the professionals are disturbed by the introduction of free tours on the Mall, they are smart enough to keep their carping to a minimum, in part because they don't think the free model will survive. Hindman and Davis sometimes have their doubts, too.

Since they started last summer, they have given more than 100 tours, averaging more than 35 people per outing and collecting about $150 from each group. A family of four is often happy to fork over a $20 tip rather than the $15 per person -- or much more -- they might have to pay for a traditional tour.

"That paid the rent and let us hibernate for the winter," Hindman says. Along the way, they figured out that foreigners tip better; that the larger the group, the lower the per capita tip; and that nothing gins up business better than making nice to hotel concierges (this is, after all, the capital of lobbying.) But some concierges recommend only tours that deliver a commission for sending business their way -- a step the DC By Foot guys say they can't afford.

For now, Hindman and Davis are getting by. They'd love to turn their business into a permanent fixture on the Mall, but they're hedging their bets. Davis plans to go to law school, and Hindman to business school. Turns out there's something to this idea of being a professional.

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