How the future was imagined in the 20th century (14 photos)

Predicting the future is not an easy task. However, fantasizing and dreaming, as they say, is not harmful! We invite you to see how residents of the 20th century imagined the future. And by “future” we mean... today! Let's check what really came true and what remained the artist's fantasy.

This is how the city of the future was presented in the film Metropolis (1927). These sets are on display at the German Film Museum.





Fashion of 2001 is how fashion designers from 1982 saw it. This image is by fashion designer Pierre Cardin, founder of the Pierre Cardin brand.



Future Manhattan, New York. Drawing by Richard Rummell, 1910s.





New York 2000. This is how he was shown in the 1975 film Death Race 2000.



Cover of Popular Mechanics from World War I



A robot vacuum cleaner was predicted back in 1959



How the 1950s envisioned the next decade. A grocery store that does takeout like McDonald's.



Buy tickets with the click of a button



Automated bread van



Drawing of a futuristic war machine in a 1916 magazine



And this is the year 2274, shown in the 1976 film Logan's Run



Underground Manhattan, protected from nuclear weapons. Drawing by architect Oscar Newman, 1969.



Amazing retro fantasy: a newspaper that will be shown on TV



On the set of the film “The Shape of Things to Come” (1936). This is how it showed the year 2036