17 Crazy Illustrations That Show How People Imagined the Future 100 Years Ago
Art
03/15/2019

The future has fascinated people in all periods of history. This is why we always dream of creating a time-travel machine. But we don’t have one now so all we can do is use our imagination. The artists of the past also tried to imagine what the world would look like in the future. They managed to foresee some of the changes, but some have clearly missed the mark.
We at Bright Side can’t travel to the future but we traveled to the past to see how the artists of that time imagined the future.
A sound letter — in the past, people already realized how many of us would love sending audio messages.
A woman having her hair done by multiple robots
Boots for traveling around the city fast. Today, we use scooters and hoverboards!
Our ancestors thought we would use radium to heat our homes.
This is probably the prototype of a skyscraper.
A sky bus in Bordeaux, France
An electric Paris train in Beijing
This picture, “Mountain air cure” shows an airship flying over the mountains with people who have health troubles. No, we still haven’t created such a thing...
Maybe one day we’ll see fish-riding in the Olympic games. But definitely not in this century!
“Listening to a newspaper” is probably the idea for a radio!
It’s great that the hunters of today don’t have such things.
We already have robot vacuum cleaners!
There are a lot of automated things in construction sites, but not quite to this extent.
This is an unusual house on wheels!
The artist created wings for this postman but didn’t know people would stop sending paper letters one day.
Underwater fishing is a strange way to spend your free time so we don’t do it.
A robot that makes clothes specifically for every person. Well, considering how many sizes there are nowadays, the idea is not so far from reality.
Which of these pictures seemed the most incredible? Tell us your thoughts down below!
Preview photo credit Villemard / commons.wikimedia
Comments
Get notifications
I'm glad we don't go fishing underwater! ?
Reply
Related Reads
An Artist Shows a Destroyed Disney World, and It Makes Us Think About Saving Our Own

Art
08/27/2018
How Disney Characters Would Live If They Were Teleported Into Our World

Art
09/07/2018
12 True Stories That Show Quiet Kindness Still Exists, Even in a Harsh World

People
03/26/2026
12 Moments That Prove Kindness and Compassion Make a Real Difference in Life

People
04/26/2026
12 Furniture Flips That Teach Us Every Old Piece Deserves Love and a Second Chance

Curiosities
04/27/2026
10 Moments That Prove Kindness and Empathy Are More Powerful Than We Think

People
03/29/2026
10 Acts of Kindness That Show Mercy Can Heal the Heart and Compassion Can Change the World

People
03/23/2026
10 Moments That Guide Us to Choose Quiet Kindness, Even If We Think Hope and Happiness Are Gone

People
04/28/2026
12 Stories of Unseen Love That Prove Real Kindness Doesn’t Fade

People
04/17/2026
14 Moments When Quiet Kindness Brought Love and Compassion to a Cold World

People
04/01/2026
15 Powerful Moments That Prove Happiness Can Surprise Us, Even When Everything Falls Apart

People
04/30/2026
12 Moments That Remind Us to Keep Kindness and Empathy, Even If Life Turns Cold

People
04/01/2026
















