If you like to have a drink or two with coworkers or friends after work chances are, we see you at Scrappy Hour at BFF Asian Grill in Arlington, TX. Did you know that there is a National Happy Hour Day? It’s on November 12, but you can grab discounted drinks and eats just about every day of the week at BFF!
Unexpectedly, the U.S. Navy was the originator of something that most of us connect with having fun after work in larger metropolitan environments. This dates back to 1914. (However, “Happy Hour” social clubs existed in 1900.)
According to NationalDay.com, happy hours, as we know them today, got started during the early days of the Mexican-American war. During the occupation of Veracruz Harbor, American sailors aboard the U.S.S. Arkansas were the subject of desperate reporters looking to fill out mundane stories after earlier fighting had used up all the exciting copy. Notices, as in this lead in the “Washington Times” of May 1, 1914, “ ‘The Happy Hour’ Aboard Ship Makes U.S. Tars (short for “tar heels”, a slang for sailors from North Carolina) Contented.” were common. After a busy day, happy hours boosted morale with boxing matches, dancing, and drinking. (Although liquor was expressly banned from naval vessels starting in 1899, sailors may have sneaked booze onboard.)
By the end of WWII, happy hours were a “thing.” The relaxing practice had spread throughout U.S. naval fleets. But on April 25, 1959, a “Saturday Evening Post” article popularized, “happy hour” for everybody outside the Navy. According to “Bustle,” an article entitled, “The Men Who Chase Missiles” described the hazards for people who “ lived and worked on remote island outposts tracking Cape Canaveral’s missile launches… “Except for those who spend too much during “happy hour” at the bar — and there are few of these — the money mounts up fast.”
The words “happy” and “hour” have appeared together for centuries when describing pleasant times. In act I, scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s King Henry V, he says, “Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour/That may give furtherance to our expedition…”
Because of over-indulgence in the liquid offerings of irresistible Happy Hour specials, a handful of states (Indiana, Vermont, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Alaska, Rhode Island, Utah, and Oklahoma) have banned the sacred deal altogether.
It wasn’t until Prohibition that having a pre-dinner cocktail became en vogue. Eventually, the naval slang and trendy start-time merged.
One study said 59% of happy-hour attendees prefer domestic beer. On the other hand, only 9% reported preferring whatever beer was the cheapest. So while most report that the low costs attract them to the happy hour, once they get there, their taste (evidently) takes over.
Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m., join us for Scrappy Hour (our version of happy hour). You can get $3 Scrappy Boy Pints, $4 House Wines, $6 Martinis, and $8 Beer Flights.
Daily from 9-11 p.m., you can get $3 shots of Jack Daniels, Jameson, Jose Cuervo, Titos, Deep Eddy Vodka, and Malibu.
Sunday Special – $4 Mimosas, Bloody Marys, and Spiked Sangrias
Monday Drink Special – Big Ass Beers
Tuesday Drink Special – Texas Tuesdays – $3 Texas spirits and $1 off Texas drafts
Wednesday Drink Special – Ladies Night $4 House Wines and $5 Martinis
Thursday Drink Special – Beer Flight $8 beer flights all day long!