En L'an 2000

En L'An 2000 (English: In the Year 2000) were a series of cigarette cards produced in France at the turn of 1900. The initial series was released between 1899 and 1901, in conjunction with the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, when excitement about the advancements of the coming century were accelerating. A second series was produced in 1910.

For the most part, the series is a fanciful impression of retro-futurism. I don't think many of us have fought off octopi in the last 20 years. There were some astute premeditations of modern technologies that we do take for granted, however, and it is interesting to pick out where the people of the fin de siècle actually did get it right. It's just too bad that we couldn't have kept the elegant fashion they predicted as well!

At least 87 cards were known from the series, produced by a variety of different French artists. Just over half are actually preserved and available for online viewing. Those 55 cards are presented here for your own perusal.

Flying cars and jetpacks have always been in vogue...

Aero-post.

Concierge greeting a new arrival.

Aero-bus.

Eagle hunting.

Aerial tennis.

Different model aero-bus.

First responders in action...

A rescue at sea.

Aero-gendarmes.

 Science, exploration, and engineering will advance...

Exploring the microscopic world of microbes.

Spatial projections.

Modern architecture.

New methods of agriculture...

Advanced incubation.

A farmer hard at work.

The life aquatic...

A new way to sail.

Water skiing.

War in the year 2000...

Daily living made better...

Electric roller skates.

Gathering around the radium hearth.

Audio-journaling.

Receiving the morning news.

The lady's automated toilette.

And the gentleman's automated barber.

Audio-dictation.

Vintage video-phone.

The original Roomba.

New style French cooking.

Chemical foods.

A traveling house.

Electric trains.

One man symphony.

The tailor of the future.

Learning by osmosis.

"A curiousity."