In 1983, The UK ran an advertisement for the Yellow Pages featuring an elderly J.H. Hartley visiting multiple bookstores in search of his book, Fly Fishing. He is finally successful with the aid of the Yellow pages. The advertisement quickly gained notoriety despite the fact J.H. Hartley was not a real author and his book, Fly Fishing did not exist. Following the airing of the advertisement, British libraries and book stores reported patrons in search of the book. In 1991, Michael Russell, an angling expert, capitalized on the advertisement and wrote and published the book Fly Fishing: Memories of Angling Days under the pseudonym J. H. Hartley – it became a popular bestseller.
The museum’s copy of Fly Fishing (from the collection of Charles G. Thacher), came with a “Yellow Pages Fly,” designed by none other than “J.H. Hartley.”
