Happy hour: Difference between revisions
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
|||
(35 intermediate revisions by 26 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{ |
{{Short description|Marketing term for a sales promotion of alcoholic drinks}} |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} |
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
'''Happy hour''' is a [[marketing]] term for a time when a venue |
'''Happy hour''' is a [[marketing]] term for a time when a venue such as a [[restaurant]] or [[Bar (establishment)|bar]] offers reduced prices on [[Alcoholic beverage|alcoholic drinks]]. Discounted menu items like appetizers are often served during happy hour. This is a way for bars and restaurants to draw in more business before or after peak business hours. |
||
==Origin== |
==Origin== |
||
The words "happy" and "hour" have appeared together for centuries when describing pleasant times. In |
The words "happy" and "hour" have appeared together for centuries when describing pleasant times. In Act I, Scene 2 of [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'', he says, "Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour/That may give furtherance to our expedition..."{{cn|date=April 2023}} The use of the phrase "happy hour" to refer to a scheduled period of entertainment is, however, more recent.{{cn|date=April 2023}} |
||
One possible origin of the term " |
One possible origin of the term "happy hour," in the sense of a scheduled period of entertainment, is from the [[United States Navy]]. In early 1913, a group of [[Homemaking|homemakers]] called the "Happy Hour Social" organised "semi-weekly smokers" on board {{USS|Arkansas|BB-33|6}}.<ref name="Our Navy">{{cite journal|title=U.S.S. Arkansas|journal=Our Navy, the Standard Magazine of the United States Navy|date=March 1913|volume=6|issue=11|page=12}}</ref> The name "Happy Hour Club," "Happy Hour Social Club," and similar variants had been in use as the names of social clubs, primarily by women's social clubs, since at least the early 1880s. By June 1913, the crew of ''Arkansas'' had started referring to their regularly scheduled smokers as happy hours.<ref>{{cite journal|title=U.S.S. Arkansas|journal=Our Navy, the Standard Magazine of the U.S. Navy|date=July 1913|volume=7|issue=3|page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XpUmAQAAIAAJ&q=%22happy%20hour%22}}</ref> The happy hours included a variety of entertainment, including boxing and wrestling matches, music, dancing, and movies.<ref name="Brown">{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Peter Jensen |title=History and Etymology of Happy Hour |url=http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2014/04/history-and-etymology-of-happy-hour.html |work=Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog |date=April 2, 2014 |access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> By the end of [[World War I]], the practice of holding happy hours had spread throughout the Navy.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Athletics in Our Fleet|journal=Our Navy, the Standard Magazine of the U.S. Navy|date=December 1918 |volume=12|issue=8|page=66 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=3H49AQAAMAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.RA7-PA66}}</ref> |
||
The idea of drinking before dinner has its roots in the [[Prohibition era]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} When the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|18th Amendment]] and the [[Volstead Act]] were passed banning alcohol consumption, people would host "cocktail hours", also known as "happy hours", at a [[speakeasy]] before eating at restaurants where alcohol could not be served. [[Cocktail lounge]]s continued the trend of drinking before dinner. |
The idea of drinking before dinner has its roots in the [[Prohibition era]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} When the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|18th Amendment]] and the [[Volstead Act]] were passed banning alcohol consumption, people would host "cocktail hours", also known as "happy hours", at a [[speakeasy]] before eating at restaurants where alcohol could not be served. [[Cocktail lounge]]s continued the trend of drinking before dinner. |
||
The ''Random House Dictionary of American Slang'' dates "Happy hour," as a term for afternoon drinks in a bar, to a ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'' article on military life in 1959. The article detailed the lives of government contractors and military personnel who worked at missile-tracking facilities in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. "Except for those who spend too much during 'happy hour' at the bar – and there are few of these – the money mounts up fast."<ref name="Brown"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Martin |first=Harold H. |title=The Men Who Chase Missiles |journal=[[The Saturday Evening Post]] |date=April 25, 1959 |url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/issues/1959-04-25/ |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Barry Popick's online etymology dictionary |
The ''Random House Dictionary of American Slang'' dates "Happy hour," as a term for afternoon drinks in a bar, to a ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'' article on military life in 1959. The article detailed the lives of government contractors and military personnel who worked at missile-tracking facilities in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. "Except for those who spend too much during 'happy hour' at the bar – and there are few of these – the money mounts up fast."<ref name="Brown"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Martin |first=Harold H. |title=The Men Who Chase Missiles |journal=[[The Saturday Evening Post]] |date=April 25, 1959 |url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/issues/1959-04-25/ |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Barry Popick's online etymology dictionary ''The Big Apple'' lists several pre-1959 citations to "Happy Hour" in print, mostly from places near naval bases in California, from as early as 1951.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/happy_hour |last=Popick |first=Barry |title=Happy Hour |work=The Big Apple |date=2008-12-18 |access-date=2021-06-17}}</ref> |
||
==Regulations== |
==Regulations== |
||
Line 29: | Line 29: | ||
===United Kingdom=== |
===United Kingdom=== |
||
The National Mandatory Licensing Conditions introduced in 2010 required "all reasonable steps" |
The National Mandatory Licensing Conditions introduced in 2010 required licensees to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent irresponsible drinks promotions which effectively banned traditional happy hours.<ref name=MA20141001>{{cite news |first=Poppleston |last=Allen |url=http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Legal/Licensing-law/Mandatory-Licensing-Conditions-what-the-new-rules-mean |title=Mandatory Licensing Conditions: what the new rules mean | date=2014-09-30 |work=[[Morning Advertiser]]}}</ref> Under the 2014 revision to these conditions, the licensee "must ensure" such promotions do not take place, although there is a subjective test, that takes account of the kind of establishment and its track record, for any promotions that offer unlimited or unspecified alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee.<ref name=MA20141001 /> |
||
====Glasgow==== |
====Glasgow==== |
||
In 2004 [[Glasgow]] banned happy hours to reduce [[binge drinking]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Newsroom |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/city-bans-happy-hours-curb-binge-drinking-2465920 |title=City bans happy hours to curb binge drinking |work=[[The Scotsman]] |date=15 January 2004}}</ref> |
In 2004, [[Glasgow]] banned happy hours to reduce [[binge drinking]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Newsroom |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/city-bans-happy-hours-curb-binge-drinking-2465920 |title=City bans happy hours to curb binge drinking |work=[[The Scotsman]] |date=15 January 2004}}</ref> |
||
===United States=== |
===United States=== |
||
{{ |
{{Further|List of alcohol laws of the United States}} |
||
[[Alcohol laws of Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] was |
[[Alcohol laws of Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] was the first [[U.S. state]] to implement a statewide ban on happy hours in 1984.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Colin |title='Happy Hour' Ban Starts In Massachusetts Bars |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/11/us/happy-hour-ban-starts-in-massachusetts-bars.html |access-date=December 8, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 11, 1984 |page=A18}}</ref> Several other U.S. states also have similar restrictions. The reason for each ban varies, but include to prevent drunk driving, to avoid the nuisance to neighbors from loud crowds and public drunkenness, and to discourage unhealthy consumption of a large amount of alcohol in a short time. |
||
In 1984, the U.S. military abolished happy hours at military base clubs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Differ on Minimum Age, 'Happy Hours' : Army, Navy in Dispute Over Drinking |date=March 3, 1985 |first=Michael |last=Weisskopf |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-03-mn-32704-story.html |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 2011, the [[Utah State Legislature]] passed a ban on happy |
In 1984, the U.S. military abolished happy hours at military base clubs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Differ on Minimum Age, 'Happy Hours' : Army, Navy in Dispute Over Drinking |date=March 3, 1985 |first=Michael |last=Weisskopf |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-03-mn-32704-story.html |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 2011, the [[Utah State Legislature]] passed a ban on happy hours. In July 2011, [[Pennsylvania]] extended the period of allowable time for happy hour from two hours to four hours.<ref>{{cite news |first=Sue |last=Gleiter |title=Pennsylvania law allows longer happy hours in bars, restaurants |url=http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/07/pennsylvania_law_allows_longer.html |work=[[The Patriot-News]] |date=2011-07-02}}</ref> In June 2012, happy hour became legal in [[Kansas]] after a 26-year ban.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kctv5.com/story/18923110/new-liquor-law-revives-happy-hour-in-kansas|title=New liquor law revives happy hour in Kansas |first=Laura |last=McCallister |work=[[KCTV]] |date=30 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727151501/http://www.kctv5.com/story/18923110/new-liquor-law-revives-happy-hour-in-kansas |archive-date=2018-07-27 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In July 2015, a 25-year happy hour ban was ended in [[Illinois]].<ref>{{cite news |first1=Jessica |last1=Wohl |first2=Greg |last2=Trotter |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-happy-hour-law-0716-biz-20150715-story.html |title=Happy hour to return to Illinois bars |date=15 July 2015 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> |
||
{{As of|2015|07}}, happy hour bans existed in Alaska |
{{As of|2015|07}}, happy hour bans existed in Alaska, Hawaii, [[Alcohol laws of Indiana|Indiana]], [[Alcohol laws of Maine|Maine]], Massachusetts, North Carolina, [[Alcohol laws of Oklahoma|Oklahoma]], Rhode Island, [[Alcohol laws of Utah|Utah]], and Vermont. A bill filed in 2023 in the North Carolina General Assembly would end the state ban on happy hours but the bill is still pending. <ref>{{cite news |last1= |first1= |date=September 5, 2023 |title=Happy hours, space whiskey and Sunday sales: Effort to loosen NC alcohol laws clears legislative hurdle |url=https://www.wral.com/story/happy-hours-space-whiskey-and-sunday-sales-effort-to-loosen-nc-alcohol-laws-clears-legislative-hurdle/21034175/ |access-date=January 29, 2024 |work=WRAL News}}</ref> |
||
==For other services== |
==For other services== |
||
By extension, certain file-hosting websites such as [[RapidShare]] and [[Megaupload]] use the term ''happy hour'' to designate periods during which users have complimentary access to certain premium features, such as increased bandwidth, elimination of queues, and bypassing of [[CAPTCHA]] verifications. |
By extension, certain file-hosting websites such as [[RapidShare]] and [[Megaupload]] use the term "''happy hour''" to designate periods during which users have complimentary access to certain premium features, such as increased bandwidth, elimination of queues, and bypassing of [[CAPTCHA]] verifications. |
||
==See also== |
==See also== |
Latest revision as of 09:48, 1 December 2024
Happy hour is a marketing term for a time when a venue such as a restaurant or bar offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks. Discounted menu items like appetizers are often served during happy hour. This is a way for bars and restaurants to draw in more business before or after peak business hours.
Origin
[edit]The words "happy" and "hour" have appeared together for centuries when describing pleasant times. In Act I, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare's Henry V, he says, "Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour/That may give furtherance to our expedition..."[citation needed] The use of the phrase "happy hour" to refer to a scheduled period of entertainment is, however, more recent.[citation needed]
One possible origin of the term "happy hour," in the sense of a scheduled period of entertainment, is from the United States Navy. In early 1913, a group of homemakers called the "Happy Hour Social" organised "semi-weekly smokers" on board USS Arkansas.[1] The name "Happy Hour Club," "Happy Hour Social Club," and similar variants had been in use as the names of social clubs, primarily by women's social clubs, since at least the early 1880s. By June 1913, the crew of Arkansas had started referring to their regularly scheduled smokers as happy hours.[2] The happy hours included a variety of entertainment, including boxing and wrestling matches, music, dancing, and movies.[3] By the end of World War I, the practice of holding happy hours had spread throughout the Navy.[4]
The idea of drinking before dinner has its roots in the Prohibition era.[citation needed] When the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act were passed banning alcohol consumption, people would host "cocktail hours", also known as "happy hours", at a speakeasy before eating at restaurants where alcohol could not be served. Cocktail lounges continued the trend of drinking before dinner.
The Random House Dictionary of American Slang dates "Happy hour," as a term for afternoon drinks in a bar, to a Saturday Evening Post article on military life in 1959. The article detailed the lives of government contractors and military personnel who worked at missile-tracking facilities in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. "Except for those who spend too much during 'happy hour' at the bar – and there are few of these – the money mounts up fast."[3][5] Barry Popick's online etymology dictionary The Big Apple lists several pre-1959 citations to "Happy Hour" in print, mostly from places near naval bases in California, from as early as 1951.[6]
Regulations
[edit]Canada
[edit]The Province of Alberta created restrictions to happy hours that took effect in August 2008. All such promotions must end at 8:00 p.m, and drink prices must conform to the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission's minimum price regulations at all times.[7]
In Ontario, while establishments may vary liquor prices as long as they stay above the minimum prices set by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, they are not permitted to advertise these prices "in a manner that may promote immoderate consumption." Formerly, the phrase "happy hour" could not be used in such advertisement.[8] That restriction was removed in 2019.[9]
Ireland
[edit]Happy hour has been illegal in the Republic of Ireland since 2003, under the Intoxicating Liquor Act.[10]
Netherlands
[edit]The Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN), a hospitality sector lobby group, agreed with its members to stop happy hours to discourage binge drinking by youth, but only if the government would vote to not raise the minimum drinking age.[11] In March 2013, the law to raise the drinking age to 18 was passed.[12]
United Kingdom
[edit]The National Mandatory Licensing Conditions introduced in 2010 required licensees to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent irresponsible drinks promotions which effectively banned traditional happy hours.[13] Under the 2014 revision to these conditions, the licensee "must ensure" such promotions do not take place, although there is a subjective test, that takes account of the kind of establishment and its track record, for any promotions that offer unlimited or unspecified alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee.[13]
Glasgow
[edit]In 2004, Glasgow banned happy hours to reduce binge drinking.[14]
United States
[edit]Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to implement a statewide ban on happy hours in 1984.[15] Several other U.S. states also have similar restrictions. The reason for each ban varies, but include to prevent drunk driving, to avoid the nuisance to neighbors from loud crowds and public drunkenness, and to discourage unhealthy consumption of a large amount of alcohol in a short time.
In 1984, the U.S. military abolished happy hours at military base clubs.[16] In 2011, the Utah State Legislature passed a ban on happy hours. In July 2011, Pennsylvania extended the period of allowable time for happy hour from two hours to four hours.[17] In June 2012, happy hour became legal in Kansas after a 26-year ban.[18] In July 2015, a 25-year happy hour ban was ended in Illinois.[19]
As of July 2015[update], happy hour bans existed in Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont. A bill filed in 2023 in the North Carolina General Assembly would end the state ban on happy hours but the bill is still pending. [20]
For other services
[edit]By extension, certain file-hosting websites such as RapidShare and Megaupload use the term "happy hour" to designate periods during which users have complimentary access to certain premium features, such as increased bandwidth, elimination of queues, and bypassing of CAPTCHA verifications.
See also
[edit]- Apéritif and digestif, drinks served before and after dinner
- Free lunch, another means of promotion
- List of public house topics
- List of restaurant terminology
- Early bird dinner, a time-based discounted restaurant meal
References
[edit]- ^ "U.S.S. Arkansas". Our Navy, the Standard Magazine of the U.S. Navy. 7 (3): 21. July 1913.
- ^ a b Brown, Peter Jensen (April 2, 2014). "History and Etymology of Happy Hour". Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ "Athletics in Our Fleet". Our Navy, the Standard Magazine of the U.S. Navy. 12 (8): 66. December 1918.
- ^ Martin, Harold H. (April 25, 1959). "The Men Who Chase Missiles". The Saturday Evening Post.
- ^ Popick, Barry (December 18, 2008). "Happy Hour". The Big Apple. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ Alberta sets new rules to improve bar safety:Minimum drink prices, restricted happy hours among new policies to curb binge drinking. Alberta News Release, July 3, 2008.
- ^ "Pricing and Promotion of Liquor by Liquor Sales Licensees" (PDF). Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Information Bulletin. July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 16, 2017.
- ^ "Info Bulletin No. 56 – Regulatory Modernization and Burden Reduction Changes in Ontario's Beverage Alcohol Industry". Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. May 6, 2019.
- ^ "Happy hour to end at midnight". RTÉ News. August 17, 2003.
- ^ "End of happy hours in sight - if the legal drinking age remains 16". DutchNews.nl. October 15, 2012. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012.
- ^ van Eupen, Breghje (March 5, 2013). "Wetsvoorstel verhoging alcoholleeftijd 16 naar 18 aangenomen" [Bill passed to increase alcohol age from 16 to 18] (in Dutch). Koninklijke Horeca Nederland. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ a b Allen, Poppleston (September 30, 2014). "Mandatory Licensing Conditions: what the new rules mean". Morning Advertiser.
- ^ Newsroom (January 15, 2004). "City bans happy hours to curb binge drinking". The Scotsman.
{{cite news}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - ^ Campbell, Colin (December 11, 1984). "'Happy Hour' Ban Starts In Massachusetts Bars". The New York Times. p. A18. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ^ Weisskopf, Michael (March 3, 1985). "Differ on Minimum Age, 'Happy Hours' : Army, Navy in Dispute Over Drinking". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Gleiter, Sue (July 2, 2011). "Pennsylvania law allows longer happy hours in bars, restaurants". The Patriot-News.
- ^ McCallister, Laura (June 30, 2012). "New liquor law revives happy hour in Kansas". KCTV. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018.
- ^ Wohl, Jessica; Trotter, Greg (July 15, 2015). "Happy hour to return to Illinois bars". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ "Happy hours, space whiskey and Sunday sales: Effort to loosen NC alcohol laws clears legislative hurdle". WRAL News. September 5, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2024.