Stuart Elliott in America.(advertising columnist at New York Times explains summer schedule for advertising agencies in the US)(Brief Article)(Column)

"Summertime and the living is easy", DuBose Hayward wrote decades ago as lyrics to a tune composed by George Gershwin. And that was before summer hours.

The three-day American holiday last weekend for Memorial Day marked the start of the Madison Avenue tradition known as summer hours. From the Memorial Day weekend through the Labor Day weekend -- that's in early September for those of you unfamiliar with our calendar -- folks who toil at ad agencies can leave work at noon or 1 pm on Fridays in exchange for coming in earlier or shortening their lunches during the rest of the week.

In some instances, summer hours mean Fridays off for everyone; at other shops, employees are divided into groups and take turns working four-day weeks. The Friday before Memorial Day and the Friday before Labor Day are usually tossed in as days off for all.

No one seems sure how or when summer hours began, but some date it to the late 60s or early 70s, when the employees at New York agencies started making enough money to afford weekend getaways to the Hamptons, Fire Island and other nearby resort communities.

Traffic being what it is, even back then, "nearby" is a relative concept for New Yorkers. Close as they are, it still takes hours to make it out to those places. Hence the idea of allowing people additional time off during the weeks with the best weather.

The implied other side of the bargain is that such largesse will be welcomed by employees who will therefore feel better about their work -- not to mention the folks for whom they work -- and be more productive.

Summer hours was a predominantly New York or East Coast phenomenon until the mid-90s, when agencies in other large cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles began ...