“It’s 5:00 somewhere!” When Happy Hour hits in New England, there’s one state that’s happier than the rest.
Happy Hour, in case you’d forgotten, is a marketing term, first and foremost. Traditionally, it’s been used by bars, pubs, and restaurants to promote food and drink specials with the hopes of boosting business in non-peak hours. And I’m here to tell you: it works. Few things are more satisfying than hitting your local for a bargain pour and 2-for-1 apps before the dinner rush.
I fell into the Wikipedia entry on Happy Hour and learned even more. An early instance of the term is in Shakespeare’s Henry V, where it’s used to describe pleasant times. During WWI, the U.S. Navy used the term to described scheduled periods of entertainment. But it wasn’t until the late 1950’s that the term gained the current iteration of its definition: afternoon drinks at a bar.
Happy Hour in New England: One State Tops the List
So who’s crushing Happy Hour in the northeast nowadays? The Shane Co. set out to find out and they came up with this: How Every State Takes Its Happy Hour. Their methodology? “Participants were selected from various demographics, and the survey included questions about happy hour preferences, influences, and experiences.” And it was for 2,600 people residing in 43 of the 50 states.
Five of the six New England states factored into their piece, so we’ll take a look at those below. If you want to see how the other 38 states fared, you can take a gander at the entire study here, which breaks things down along generational lines, too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. I’m hearing one of my favorite watering holes is serving up dollar drafts for an hour this evening, and I’d like to take advantage of that. Cheers!
