Internet Pattern Book

The Internet Pattern Book is an ongoing effort to develop a workable archive and sortable resource to showcase tilable backgrounds used in early web design. To date, it contains 253 patterns that you can browse by style or color. These are taken as background assets from various defunct sites on Geocities circa the 2000s.

During the HTML era of web design, repeating background assets known as tiles were used frequently to minimise bandwidth. These used simple but elegant principles about patterns and tessellation to create the illusion of a fully illustrated background. Over time, their use declined, but their whimsy typifies the design of the early Internet, 9x/iMac desktop wallpapers, Geocities and Angelfire user pages.  

You can find a web version here.