Wondering what is happy hour and whether it’s worth your evening? It’s a set window when a bar or restaurant sells drinks, and often snacks, at reduced prices. The name started with sailors, not bargain hunters.
Happy hour is one piece of the bigger picture of brooklyn bar culture, so start there if you want more context.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Plain definition | Reduced prices on alcoholic drinks at a venue such as a bar or restaurant |
| Navy crews calling their scheduled smokers “happy hours” | By June 1913 |
| First modern drinks sense in the Oxford English Dictionary | Nov. 26, 1951 (Los Angeles Times) |
| Price in that 1951 example | All drinks 25 cents, from 5 to 6 p.m. |
| Happy hour in the Republic of Ireland | Illegal since 2003 |
| First U.S. statewide ban | Massachusetts, 1984 |
The figures come from Wikipedia’s happy hour entry and the Grammarphobia Blog’s happy hour post. Laws and offers can change, so check the source before you rely on them.
The basic idea behind a happy hour
A happy hour is a marketing tool. Wikipedia describes it as a time of day when a venue such as a restaurant or bar offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks. Menu items like appetizers are also often discounted during that window.
The goal is to bring in more business before or after peak hours. For you, a typical offer looks like this:
- Lower prices on selected drinks.
- Discounted appetizers or small plates at many venues.
- A fixed time window that the venue sets for itself.
Because every venue writes its own terms, two happy hours can look quite different. The deal is a promotion, not a standard, so the details always come from the menu or the staff.
Where the name came from
The scheduled kind of happy hour began at sea, not at a bar. According to Wikipedia, a group aboard the USS Arkansas called the Happy Hour Social organised semi-weekly smokers in early 1913. By June 1913 the crew was calling those regularly scheduled smokers happy hours.
Those events were entertainment, not drinking sessions. The same entry lists boxing and wrestling matches, music, dancing and movies. A Navy history blog quoted in the Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog says that by early 1918 the entire Atlantic Fleet was holding weekly happy hours.
The oldest example in the Oxford English Dictionary is from the May 8, 1914, issue of the Day Book, a Chicago newspaper. It describes the nautical version as several hours set apart three nights a week for the crew, according to the Grammarphobia Blog.
The words themselves were already in use. Wikipedia notes that “Happy Hour Club” and similar names were used by social clubs, mostly women’s clubs, since at least the early 1880s. The blog adds that the name seems to have reflected the hope of spending a few happy hours together, not the expectation of being happy by way of alcohol (same blog post).
From speakeasies to the neighborhood bar
A popular account ties the drinks meaning to Prohibition. ABC7 Chicago reports that in the 1920s the term became associated with alcohol, with people meeting at speakeasies for a drink. Wikipedia describes a similar story of cocktail hours at a speakeasy before eating at restaurants where alcohol could not be served, though it flags that claim as lacking a citation.
The printed record is firmer. The Oxford English Dictionary’s first example of the modern sense is from the Nov. 26, 1951, issue of the Los Angeles Times. It describes a stampede at a tavern during a happy hour from 5 to 6 p.m. when all drinks were 25 cents, per the Grammarphobia Blog.
You will often see a different date given. Wikipedia says the Random House Dictionary of American Slang dates the barroom sense to a 1959 Saturday Evening Post article on military life. It also notes that an online etymology dictionary lists earlier citations, mostly near naval bases in California, from as early as 1951.
Put together, the likely path runs in a few steps:
- Women’s social clubs used the name from the early 1880s.
- Navy crews adopted it for entertainment nights in 1913.
- Civilian bars used it for discounted drinks by 1951.
Why an hour can last three
A reader who wrote to the Grammarphobia Blog spotted a bar sign listing happy hour as being from 4 to 7. That is a three-hour stretch for something called an hour, and the reader wondered about the oddity.
The dictionary has an answer. As quoted there, the Oxford English Dictionary defines the sense as a period of time, originally an hour and now often longer, usually in the early evening, during which drinks are served at reduced prices.
The stretch is nothing new for the word. By the early 1300s, the same post says, “hour” was being used somewhat indefinitely for a short or limited space of time, more or less than an hour. In other words, your three-hour happy hour is following a very old habit.
Where happy hours are limited or banned
Rules differ widely, and some places restrict or forbid the practice. These examples come from Wikipedia’s happy hour entry and describe the laws it reports:
- Ireland: happy hour has been illegal in the Republic of Ireland since 2003, under the Intoxicating Liquor Act (Wikipedia).
- United Kingdom: the National Mandatory Licensing Conditions introduced in 2010 effectively banned traditional happy hours (Wikipedia).
- Glasgow: the city banned happy hours in 2004 to reduce binge drinking (Wikipedia).
- Alberta, Canada: restrictions took effect in August 2008, and such promotions must end at 8:00 p.m. (Wikipedia).
In the United States, Massachusetts was the first state to adopt a statewide ban, in 1984, per Wikipedia. The entry says several other states have similar restrictions, and that the reasons vary but include preventing drunk driving, avoiding nuisance to neighbors, and discouraging a large amount of drinking in a short time.
Bans also end. The same entry reports that happy hour became legal in Kansas in June 2012 after a 26-year ban, and that a 25-year ban ended in Illinois in July 2015 (Wikipedia). Treat any list of rules as a snapshot, because the sources here do not cover New York. Check the venue’s posted terms and the state’s liquor rules before you assume a deal applies.
How to read a happy hour offer
You don’t need insider knowledge to get a fair deal. A quick check before you sit down covers most of it:
- Confirm the start and end time, since the window may be longer than an hour.
- Ask which drinks and which food items are discounted.
- Check whether the deal applies to the whole room or only the bar.
- Pace yourself, because the point of the rules above is to discourage heavy drinking in a short time.
If a menu term is unfamiliar, the bar terms glossary can help you decode it. If you skip alcohol, read up on non alcoholic drinks at a bar so you know what to ask for, since many specials focus on alcohol.
Frequently asked questions
What is happy hour in simple terms?
Show answer
It is a time of day when a bar or restaurant offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks, and often on appetizers too, to draw in business outside peak hours, as described by Wikipedia.
Where did the term happy hour come from?
Show answer
The scheduled use appears to start with Navy entertainment nights aboard the USS Arkansas, and by June 1913 the crew was using the term, according to Wikipedia. Its drinks meaning appears in print by 1951, per the Grammarphobia Blog.
Why does happy hour last longer than an hour?
Show answer
The word “hour” has long been used loosely for a limited stretch of time, and the Oxford English Dictionary notes that happy hours are now often longer than an hour, according to the Grammarphobia Blog.
Is happy hour legal everywhere?
Show answer
No. Wikipedia reports that it has been illegal in the Republic of Ireland since 2003 and that Massachusetts adopted a statewide ban in 1984, so rules depend on where you are.
