I dont think we are going to have any complimentaries, replied Pep.
No a dime, he says; but he showed me a bunch of complimentaries and laughed and said hed sell them cheap.
Through some unaccountable oversight, they neglected to specially mark or punch these complimentaries.
1620s, "conveying a compliment," from compliment (n.) + -ary. In later use loosely meaning "free of charge."