The History of the Yellow Pages

The very first time the term yellow pages was used was in 1883. A printer working on a regular telephone directory ran out of white paper and used yellow paper instead.

In 1886, Reuben H. Donnelly produced the first Yellow Pages directory featuring business names and phone numbers, categorized by the types of products and services provided.

In 1909, St. Louis produced the first Yellow Pages directory with coupons.