Why are some pads of paper yellow?

Dear God,

I’ve just graduated from college and started working in the business world, and I’ve noticed that many businesses prefer to use pads of paper that are yellow. I don’t get it. Why do they need yellow note pads? What’s wrong with the plain old white pads of paper?

- Phil

Phil,

There are two reasons for this practice. First of all, yellow paper requires extra dye, and so the dye makers convinced people in some lines of business, a long time ago, to start using yellow paper in return for special access to back rooms in the dye-making factories for secret meetings of practices with questionable legality. As a result, for generations, the dye business was a front for organized crime.

The second reason for the use of these yellow note pads comes from Revolutionary War history. The official story has it that Paul Revere’s midnight ride was triggered by a lantern in a tower – one if the British came by land, two if by sea. That’s not how it really happened. What really happened is that Paul Revere was to receive a note – on white paper if the British came by land, and on yellow paper if the British came by sea. So, it’s been considered patriotic ever since for businesses to write notes on pads of yellow paper.

- God