1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren Vogel, bamb Here, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, former 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: National security adviser John Bolton, and the late American author 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: Pat Conroy are just a few of its millions of devotees. 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: We're talking about the quintessential office supply, the legal pad, 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: those slightly larger the normal pads of yellow paper with 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: horizontal blue lines for writing and a vertical red line 8 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: marking the left margin, and pages that flip on the vertical. 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: It's simple, professional, cheap, and instantly recognizable. A part of 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: legal pads lure is the air of sophistication about them. 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: Legal is right there in the name. These things are 12 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: used by important people for important business, and perhaps the 13 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: most recognizable characteristic of a legal pad that yellow color. 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: But why are they yellow? Good question, and I'll warn 15 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: you that this is one of those mysteries of history 16 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: to which the best answer is a but let's look 17 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: into that history. The legal pad was invented by a 18 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: paper mill worker by the name of Thomas Holly in 19 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: Massachusetts around Holly came up with the idea of collecting 20 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: the tons of paper scraps off the floor of the 21 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: mill and stitching them together to make pads of paper. 22 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: Before long, his paper pad invention was a hit. Though 23 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: the paper in his pads was originally white. They were 24 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: so popular that Holly was able to quit his job 25 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: at the mill and form the American Pad and Paper 26 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: Company or am PAD, saving himself from having to pick 27 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: up all those scraps. But back to why legal pads 28 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: are yellow. There are lots of theories about that, but 29 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: no one really knows for sure. Some say they were 30 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: yellow from the beginning, that because the pads were originally 31 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: created using piece together scraps, they looked cheap in low quality, 32 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: so Holly dyed them to make them a classier, more 33 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: uniform yellow. This sounds reasonable, but it's probably not true. 34 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: Dying paper at that time would have been prohibitively expensive 35 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: and not worth cutting into profits. Other theories are from 36 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: a little later, probably after Holly's time. They include the 37 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: idea that yellow is easier on the eyes because it 38 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: doesn't create as much glare as white, and thus yellow 39 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: paper was the obvious way to go. Others have hypothesized 40 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: that yellow paper was beneficial because it didn't show age 41 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: like white paper. Still others think that Holly's pads went 42 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: from white to yellow because of a belief that yellow 43 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: stimulates the mind, including areas of recall and creativity. While 44 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: we may not know the real answer, we do know 45 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: the origin of illegal pad's margin. Around nineteen hundred, a 46 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: local judge asked Polly to add a vertical line down 47 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: the left side of the paper to create a margin 48 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 1: where he can make notes. Those margins, also known as 49 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 1: down lines, are always red and drawn one point to 50 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: five inches that's three point one centimeters from the left 51 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: edge of the page. That yellow paper, blue lines, a 52 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: red margin, and a gummed tear off top are all 53 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: required for a pad to qualify as a legal pad. 54 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: Any other colors of paper or printed lines, and that 55 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: pad is not legal. And one last fact for you, 56 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger banned all legal sized documents 57 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: from federal courts. This policy is estimated to have saved 58 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:20,239 Speaker 1: millions of dollars in storage space. Today's episode was written 59 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: by Meg's Barwick and produced by Tyler Clang. For more 60 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: in this and lots of other specific topics, visit how 61 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I 62 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,399 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit 63 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: pr heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 64 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.