Why Was Legal Size Paper Invented?
Some people find legal pads convenient to use because they offer more space for writing than a traditional notepad. Many also seem to prefer a bright-yellow color, though legal pads can come with either white or yellow paper. Though the story of the birth of the legal pad is an interesting one, some mysteries still surround the appeal of the bright-yellow pad and the reason for the legal pad's unique design.
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Thomas Holley and American Paper and Pad (AMPAD)
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Thomas W. Holley, a paper mill employee from Holyoke, Mass., invented the legal pad in 1888. He used paper scraps and rejects from the mill where he was working and had employees cut the scrap paper down to a uniform size, printed rules/lines on the paper and stitched the pages into a notepad. Once invented, he started his own business and ran it from the room of a small building on the town's main street. Because the product became successful quite rapidly, he was able to expand his business soon after starting it.
The Judge's Request
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One of the local judges requested that Holley make the pads larger to make note writing easier. This is how the legal pads began to take on their trademark "legal size."
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Fun Facts
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The initial pad design story, and the judge's request, are the facts as AMPAD tells them, but it's interesting to note that Holley never filed a patent for the invention of the legal pad and no other company has either. AMPAD has never fully explained why yellow seems to be the standard legal pad coloring because Holley's original pads were thought to be white. Yellow paper is also more expensive than white paper, and Holley was very thrifty, so he likely never used yellow paper. The only prerequisite for a pad to be declared a legal pad is that the margins be 1.25 inches from the left edge, as requested by the judge.
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References
- Photo Credit legal pad and mechanical pencil image by alpy7 from Fotolia.com
