Have you ever wondered how the term "Happy Hour" originated or exactly what it means? How many times have you heard in your lifetime the phrase, "Let’s have happy hour, it must be 5 o’clock somewhere in the world?"

The United States Navy gets the credit for its origin. Happy Hour began in the 1920s and had nothing to do with food or drink. The term was slang for the scheduled time slots for entertainment on the ship. During the time, wrestling and boxing bouts took place giving the sailors an opportunity to relieve stress from those long hours at sea.

For eons our ancestors have used alcohol for medical purposes, traded it as a form of currency, and consumed it for pleasure. And in the 1920s when it was taken away during the Prohibition era by the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act which banned all alcohol consumption, citizens didn’t give up so easily. They began hosting "Cocktail Hours," also known as "happy hours" at a speakeasy (an illegal drinking establishment) before eating at restaurants where alcohol could not be served. Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, cocktail lounges continued the trend of drinking before dinner as "Happy Hour."

In 1960 the term "Happy Hour" became mainstream, a social event for drinks before dinner for everyone, following an article on military life published by the Saturday Evening Post.

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