It’s those few magical hours, when your favorite watering hole drops their prices, enticing you through their door. This marketing ploy to lure in thirsty drinkers has been going on for centuries. There’s more involved than just getting you to belly up to the bar. “Happy hour” refers to a certain amount of time set aside for restaurants or bars to offer a select menu of discounted food and drinks to gain customers. In the United States, most happy hours occur Monday through Thursday, when patronage at these establishments is often lower. In the beginning happy hour was only that – an hour. In recent years, it has been extended to “happy hours” often going on for the majority of an afternoon. The United States Navy may be the first to thank for establishing a happy hour as early as the 1920’s. No, sailors on ships weren’t getting crocked, but the term “Happy Hour” was used for scheduled entertainment such as movies or sporting events. It was basically a scheduled rest time for those on board to blow off some steam. When Prohibition hit the United States and bars were legally prevented from serving booze, thirsty Americans would host cocktail hours in the home or at a speakeasy before dinner, thus becoming ‘happy hours’. In order to get into a speakeasy, you had to know someone, or know the password, for fear that you could be the law, wanting to shut the place down. While happy hours are well known across the country: Massachusetts and Utah have completely banned them, as have clubs on military bases. In June 2012, Kansas ended their 26 year ban. A couple of year ago, Pennsylvania extended the amount of time a bar can market their happy hour from two to four hours....