What is Happy Hour?

It's funny you know,...how two words can take a terrible day into a whole new world of intrigue. What are those magical words? "HAPPY HOUR!"Some of us hate our hair, our looks, our lives, our jobs...and some of us love life and all that surrounds it in general. Our lives consist of waking up early, often going to bed late, or barely sleeping at all because you feel like you are always at work....you're changing diapers, packing lunches, cleaning the house, having the car serviced, writing reports, grocery shopping and having your weekly board meeting with your team. Most of us if you are like myself, look forward to the end of the day or the end of the week.....or that one particular time frame during the week where you go somewhere to escape the madness and have a cocktail with friends, family or loved ones....the place where you can unwind, smile, and breathe while ordering the cocktail or beer of your choice at a "special" price.

I used to be able to tell you where every happy hour was in town, before you ask why, Yup, sure could, but hey,....let me explain...I was a single mom raising two kids and then put them through college myself. Yhey did more drinking than I did...I was the workaholic that helped provide them with their educations. I gave up what I had to in order to be the best mom that I could be and most of that meant giving up my social time, and fun freedom. Everything cost too much when you have the budget I did. I'm not one to sit around and enjoyed being with my friends....so I found every single place in town that remotely had a happy hour and the girls had somewhere to go every night if we wanted to. Hi, I'm Shelly and I'm a "Happy Hourholic!"Ahhhhhh finally, life is good! Why go out and spend a fortune on booze and food when business want "your business?" They are willing to provide you with great food and appetizers not to mention great drink specials for sooooo much less during regular business hours.....so "why the hell not?"

What I have often wonder is What is Happy Hour? "Where does this concept of Happy Hour originate?" Curious? I certainly was.....this is what I discovered while I was doing some research.

Here is a little "tid'bit" for the day.......

The Navy used the term happy hour as the two hour period of entertainment before dinner on their ships during the 1920’s. The Volstead Act was passed and paved the way for this trend when civilians held cocktail hours in their homes and meetings within the ranks. Post prohibition, small cocktail lounges continued the pre-dinner drinks tradition when, in, 1960, happy hour became a fully fledged term after articles were published in many newspapers throughout England. The term refers to the state of how happy people are when having consumed alcohol and it soon became known as more of an after work ritual for this reason. The 1980’s saw rules surrounding happy hour defined further by bar staff, when food had to be introduced as mandatory during the period of cheap drinks because of serious drink driving cases. The military took on a strict stance in regards to tightening drink driving laws seen through US General John A. Wickham’s move to abolish happy hours from all military based clubs.

However, that didn’t stop other venues and patrons. Since then, happy hour has been a custom embraced right around the world. Almost every bar, pub and club has some form of it and our only job is to make the most of it. Our wallets will be happier as well! My question is what time is happy hour? Various bars and restaurants have specific times....I, like most of you always thought that happy hour began when the "madness of your work day ended!" 

Meet your friends, family or coworkers and enjoy the good food and cheap drink specials...just remember to plan ahead, drink in moderation, and do not drink and drive! Some people might suggest that happy hour is at 5:00......

There is really no set rule .....I say it's happy hour somewhere!

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