I was browsing a local charity / junk shop and found an intriguing book for 50p. For most people it would be junk, outdated, and pointless, but I thought it would be an interesting look into the history of the internet. It’s called 500 Wild and Wacky Websites and was first published by Lagoon Books back in 2002 with this edition being printed in 2007 with ‘new content uploaded’ as it says on the cover. I wanted to take a look back at all 500 websites listed to see if there were any hidden gems, things that haven’t aged well, or classics we forgot about.
After 19 years and checking through all 500 sites listed in the book I can give you the definitive stats:
162 were completely dead leading to an error
79 lead to sites different from original URLs
36 led to a domain registrar to purchase the old domain
12 now linked to gambling websites
10 were old Geo Cities sites that led to Yahoo
I think just over 200 of these sites still being live is quite a good result in 19 years of Internet history. Some of the sites in the book are among some of the biggest sites online today (IMDB, The Onion etc.) which have the money and resources to keep a website alive for 20 years. While some of the sites featured are just passion projects that have been kept alive by sheer will and a love of the game.
I thought it would be fun to rank the top 5 sites that are still alive and lament the top 5 sites that are no longer with us so you don’t have to browse through all 500 sites like I did!
Top 5 Websites Still Live
Watching Grass Grow
The most boring or the most exciting website in the world? You decide. Mr. Grass has been showing off his front lawn via a live video feed since 2005. Although some exciting things do happen occasionally, most users tune it for a glimpse at the slow growth of the grass. When online webcams became a thing, every man and his dog created a live website. While most were short lived projects, this site has been constantly broadcasting for over 20 years!
The Picasso Conspiracy
This site puts together an argument that an ink drawing bought for £25 might be an original work by Picasso worth many times more. Mark, one of the owners of the work, lays out his theories as to why his artwork his the real deal. Hidden dates, similarities to famous works, and even a fingerprint lead him to the conclusion he his holding a piece of art history, but are dark forces at work trying to stop this art from gaining the attention it deserves?
Dancing Paul
Paul, a web-developer by trade, showed off his coding and dancing skills back in 2001. This site does exactly what is says on the tin. It’s just Paul and he’s dancing. I feel like the modern internet misses these little gag game websites. It’s all become too sterile. So why don’t you get Paul boogying to Wild Cherry and Prince to lament the passing of the fun internet.
Inflatable Planet
Balloon hats aren’t just the reserve of kid’s birthday parties anymore. Balloon artist Addi Somekh and photographer Charlie Eckert visited 34 countries bringing a bit of joy to everyone they met and capturing the moment when they wore their new headgear with pride. In a time of cynicism, a project like this made with genuine sincerity is lovely to see. Maybe balloon hats are what we actually needed for world peace. Bring back niche blogs!
Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers
A quintessential one use website dedicated solely to men who have a passing resemblance to the late great country singer Kenny Rogers. It’s a superb site that will not let you down if all you need in life is hundreds of pictures of old men with white beards, wavy hair, and a glint in their eye.
Top 5 Websites Gone But Not Forgotten
All links lead to web archive versions of the original websites.
Dean and Nigel Blend In
Probably the funniest site I stumbled upon in my search through the book. Dean and Nigel, armed with a bag of props, go out into town looking for people they can mimic. Wearing a big hat? Got silly glasses? Sporting a thick tache? The two lads will probably dress up just like you and get a photo without you even noticing. The results are a wonderfully stupid website with a hilarious gallery of when they blended in perfectly with the general public.
Virtual Cow Tipping
A vegan friendly way of cow tipping. A route one website that does thing and one thing only, but boy does it do that one thing well. Simple, novelty websites are few and far between these days, so it’s nice to see a classic one from yesteryear.
Send Me A Dollar
The old web also had its entrepreneurs. How much money could you get if you just asked? Well, in 2007, a man tried just that. He asked viewers of his website to send him a singular dollar in the post. Did it work? I’d say it did, he collected over $8,000 with just this simple website.
The Nose Page
Back in 2007 we didn’t need as much to entertain us. Just a website showing photos of random user’s noses was enough for us. 20 year old pictures of people’s noses are not to be sniffed at.
I Love Cheese
Even though it’s got a superb classic early 2000s web look, there is only one reason why it’s on this list. This is exactly the sort of website I would have somehow found when I was surfing the web as a kid. Like most kids I had a phase where the idea of cheese was the funniest thing ever, and I surely must have typed in ilovecheese.com at some point.
Other Anomalies
Along with some superb websites there were also a few funny anomalies included in the book.
There were definitely some sites listed to get to the word count:
- The following famous sites were deemed wild and wacky enough to be included: E! News, IMDB, The Onion, The FBI, Ripley’s Believe it Or Not, and Wired.
- They also added personal websites for the Pope, the Dalai Lama, U.S President, Clint Eastwood, and the British Royals. I suppose these people having websites was probably interesting back in 2007.
Some domains now lead to websites totally different to their original sites:
- Purple.com was originally a joke website dedicated to the colour purple. It now advertises Purple Mattresses.
- A site dedicated to showcasing the weird celeb fan websites of the time now leads to the campaign website of a councillor from Ottowa
- The strangest mix up probably comes courtesy of Bible UFO a site talking through the link between the Bible and UFOs which now leads to a site listing the best hotels in Rome.
To finish off our deep dive there were a few websites listed that haven’t aged well in those 20ish years:
- Info Wars, the Alex Jones conspiracy website, was listed for some reason, but now the link just says off air. He was forced to sell his assets as a result of a lawsuit.
- A site was included named Discount Babies that faked online auctions for children. Very close to the bone in 2007, it feels almost illegal in 2026 even if it is a joke.
- A site named 2020 Vision looked years into the future trying to bring environmental science to law makers. It even features then Senator Joe Biden. I’m not sure what they thought was going to happen in 2020, but I feel like their predictions were a tad off.
It was a fun romp down the internet super highway with a wide range of random sites from yesteryear. There were some hidden gems in there, but to be honest, quite a few are probably best left dead. I do honour the dedication of those who have kept these sites going, especially as a passion project years in the making. The cost of hosting and domains are probably enough for most to kill a site a few years after usefulness, but fair play to those who still pay and maintain theirs.
I hope you’ve enjoyed a look through this old book. What 500 websites would you include if a similar book was made today? Sadly, fun novelty sites are are lot harder to come by these days, as we are all siloed into social media sites, but I hope Arts and Dafts draws on some of the fun of the old internet in this new horrible AI age.
Keep the internet fun!
