From the archivist
It started with a game that needed a few authentic AIM icons. Then I had 1,000. Then 10,000. At some point, I had a buddy icon problem.
Read how this happenedYou made it this far
You have scrolled past 1,024 buddy icons, so I have some suspicions. My blog is where the other shiny digressions end up.
Subscribe to Shedletsky.comA language of tiny pictures
A picture barely 50 pixels wide, sitting beside an AIM screen name, could announce a mood, a fandom, an inside joke, or who someone wanted to be that day.
Read the short historyRecovered from the early web
Buddy icons survive in old directories, fan sites, downloadable packs, and web archives. The archive preserves the original files, groups known copies, and records where each one was found.
How the archive worksSleigh depicts winter-ride scenes around a red vehicle, reindeer, and seasonal lettering in small icons, often with quick pose shifts that imply motion and celebration. Notice the curved runner line, Santa-like silhouette, and holiday text rhythm to identify this set of sleigh-focused buddy icons.
![Green background with red text "Hoppy Christmas =]" and white pixelated reindeer/sleigh graphics in four quadrants, showing animation changes in reindeer positions and border shapes.](/image/8c09b456d30dc40b8cbce2de8d566f4b73ceb305b3e54d9166d79055e7559d8d){kind=small}
