THE ORIGIN OF THE 'HAPPY HOUR'

Don't we all just love the term Happy Hour". In case this sounds new to you it simply means selected hours during the day when you can buy drinks at a super cheap rate for more.

We can all agree that happy hour has become a sacred ritual in America. But have you ever wondered when the tradition of cheap libations after work began?


The first documented “happy hours” in the United States were held by the Navy as early as 1914 — but they had very little to do with alcohol.

For Navy sailors during the first World War, a “Happy Hour” was a weekly entertainment program held to help alleviate the boredom that comes with life at sea, according to Peter Jensen Brrown, an amateur pop culture historian who catalogs his research in the Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog. News articles dating back to 1914 described the events as having live music, dancing, movie showings or boxing matches.

But it wasn’t until Prohibition (1920-1933) that Americans began using the term specifically for drinking.