The 19th century heralded a surge in industrial technology, and in turn sparked the collective imagination of a more curious generation that was, above all else, imaginative. Advances in wireless communication, image projection, automation, and other facets of the industrial revolution were bolstered by writers like Jules Verne, who opened up the minds of the French people to a wealth of possibilities.
In 1899, French painter Jean Marc Coté and a handful of commercial artists were commissioned to create inserts that depicted everyday life a century later, and these picture cards — discovered by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov — showed us the full extent of how the people of that time viewed us in return.
While some were on point (A version of Skype or Facetime) and some were wildly off-tangent (Space cricket, anyone?), these are definitely worth a look. Unfortunately, these cards were not distributed to the masses, but thankfully, it survived long enough for us to gain a unique perspective on how human life has changed, but how our imagination has not.
PIC FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CATERS NEWS
