Ancient Web: Stinkymeat Documented Nineteen Days of a Neighbor's Yard

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

Mahlon Smith wanted to know what happened when three kinds of meat sat outdoors for nineteen days. More importantly, he decided that the proper place to conduct this investigation was his unsuspecting neighbor's lawn.

Visit the original Stinkymeat Project.

The site's explanation dates the experiment to the summer of 2000. Smith calls himself a scientist, but his tone makes clear that this is a prank with photographs, not a controlled microbiology study. He documents the decomposition as a sequence of dated-looking daily pages with thumbnail pictures and optional high-resolution versions.

On Day 1 he chooses ground beef for $2.57, hot dogs for 99 cents, and a discounted steak for $3.75. Total cost: $7.31. Smith guesses the beef will disintegrate first, while the preserved hot dogs could survive practically forever. His shopping decisions are described in more detail than most respectable research proposals manage.

The experiment had one uncooperative variable

On Day 2, Smith and an accomplice named Chad place the plate in the neighbor's yard, hoping not to be seen. The following pages follow the accumulating insects and increasingly unappetizing changes.

The ending is a fine example of a field experiment running into an inconvenient reality. On Day 19, the plate has disappeared. Smith assumes the neighbor cleaned up and explains that a proposed $1,000 challenge to eat some of the result is now impossible. He and his companion retreat when they hear voices from the nearby house.

The homepage advertised an eighteen-day pseudo time-lapse requiring QuickTime 3 and a PC screensaver made from the meat photographs. The downloads are important as period artifacts; that is not a promise that old executables or movie formats will work safely today.

The same domain contains a second Stinkymeat experiment. That sequel is already covered in this collection; the original 2000 project is a distinct earlier story with different food, a different chronology, and its own ending.

It captures a specific type of old-web entertainment: an individual could publish a very stupid idea, document it obsessively, give each stage an HTML page, and invite visitors to witness the consequences.

Follow the original experiment from its first shopping trip through Day 19.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.