THESE “HAPPY DAYS” ARE YOURS AND MINE
No look back at classic high schoolthemed pop culture would be complete without spending a little time in 1950s Milwaukee courtesy of the classic ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974-84).
For at least the first few years of the series’ run, before some characters went on to college, pals Richie (Ron Howard), Potsie (Anson Williams), Ralph Malph (Donny Most) — and later, Richie’s kid sister Joanie (Erin Moran) — went to Jefferson High.
When they weren’t studying or getting into scrapes at school (or making out at the famous Inspiration Point), the group of teens hung out at Arnold’s (later Al’s) Drive-in, and it was there especially — thanks to the jukebox music and set design — that the show capitalized on the nostalgia people in the 1970s had for the 1950s and early ‘60s, which was also on display in hit films of the era like American Graffiti and Grease.
While Richie and the gang were often seen wearing their school’s letterman jackets, they weren’t regularly seen in the classroom.the Cunningham kids were more frequently followed at home with mom Marion (Marion Ross) and dad Howard (Tom Bosley), who were known more familiarly to the kids’ friends as “Mr. and Mrs. C.”
And the show’s breakout character — Arthur Fonzarelli (aka “The Fonz” and “Fonzie,” played by Henry Winkler) — was himself a high school dropout (perhaps he was “too cool for school”).
Still, the series managed to tap into people’s feelings for what is at least perceived by later generations as being a simpler and more idyllic time for kids in school, and for life in general. The show’s title stems from the song “Happy Days Are Here Again,” and likely refers to the positive feelings in the country engendered by the postworld War II baby boom and economic growth among America’s middle class in the 1950s, even though the song itself has an older origin.