# Ancient Web: Graeme Cole Tested Whether You Can Nail Jelly to a Wall Graeme Cole's 2005 illustrated experiment attempted to nail actual gelatin dessert to a wall, then recorded years of comments and attention from Boing Boing and b3ta. 2026-09-30 :: Switchboard Tech Services ![Ancient Web: Graeme Cole Tested Whether You Can Nail Jelly to a Wall](https://switchboardtechservices.com/static/images/defaults/articles.webp) Part of the [Ancient Web Collection](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/ancient-web-collection/). People call an impossible job 'like nailing jelly to a wall.' Graeme Cole thought there was a rather serious gap in the evidence: had anybody bothered to test the proverb? [Visit Nailing Jelly to a Wall: Is It Possible?](https://greem.co.uk/otherbits/jelly.html). The original page is an exceptionally thorough joke presented as a laboratory report. Cole documents the materials—Hartley's jelly cubes, a piece of timber, a hammer, and three-inch nails—then works through preparation, measurements, multiple trials, observations, and a conclusion. The photographs are essential, because the thing he describes is exactly as undignified as it sounds. ## Twelve nails and still no success The first trial uses **concentrated jelly cubes** straight from the package. These stick to the vertical wood without help, so a nail through one proves little. Cole labels that effort cheating, then prepares a full-strength jelly according to the instructions: a pint of mixture, cooled overnight in a dessert bowl. The resulting wobbling mass cannot be lifted intact, so he deposits it on a horizontal plank and drives nails through it before raising the board. Five nails do not work. Neither do nine. Eventually **twelve nails** still cannot hold the jelly together; it cracks and slides to the floor. A smaller portion is tried next. Cole constructs a semicircle of extra nails to catch falling pieces, but it too collapses within about half a minute. The conclusion: the old saying survives a practical test, at least under those carefully described conditions. The page is much more than a one-day joke because Cole kept adding updates. He dates the experiment to **June 2005**, between his final university exams and graduation. An October 2006 note wrestles with the British meaning of 'jelly' and the American 'Jell-O' distinction. In February 2007, a link from **Boing Boing** and then a [b3ta newsletter](https://greem.co.uk/otherbits/jelly.html) brought a sudden audience; Cole reports thousands of visits that day. A 2023 note explains that he removed broken links while trying to preserve the feel of the old page. That is unusually direct evidence of a webmaster balancing link-rot repairs against historical authenticity. The experiment did not advance materials science. It showed what could happen when somebody combined a silly question, real effort, photos, and a freely accessible homepage. [Explore the original photographs, failures, and later updates](https://greem.co.uk/otherbits/jelly.html). Part of the [Ancient Web Collection](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/ancient-web-collection/). - Categories: [Ancient Web](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/categories/ancient-web/) - Tags: [#ancientweb](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/ancientweb/), [#photography](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/photography/), [#webhumor](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/webhumor/), [#experiments](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/experiments/), [#2000s](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/2000s/) [Articles RSS](https://switchboardtechservices.com/feeds/articles.xml "Subscribe using an RSS reader") --- Canonical URL: https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/ancient-web-graeme-cole-tested-whether-you-can-nail-jelly-to-a-wall/ Language: en-us Content type: article Author: Switchboard Tech Services Published: 2026-09-30T08:10:40+00:00 Modified: 2026-10-18T21:02:21.987200+00:00