Imagine, over 100 years ago you are an artist in France and you are asked to come up with an idea of what the world will be like in 100 years - what would you draw?

Well, images of air battles and school classroom, of hairdressing salons and flying postmen have been doing the the internet rounds for a few months now, but if you haven't seen them they are definitely worth a look. Public Domain Review probably have the best little write up and presentation of images like the one above, they tell us:

France in the Year 2000 (XXI century) – a series of futuristic pictures by Jean-Marc Côté and other artists issued in France in 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1910. Originally in the form of paper cards enclosed in cigarette/cigar boxes and, later, as postcards, the images depicted the world as it was imagined to be like in the year 2000. There are at least 87 cards known that were authored by various French artists, the first series being produced for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris.

I love content like this as a GeekDad. It provides so many opportunities to engage with my children. I have used these image to get my children thinking about the future, about how they would draw images of the year 2100 - and considering that they could be alive then! We've talked about what in the images was right, and what was wrong, and how difficult it is to predict so far into the future. So, thank you internet, please keep providing awesome creative commons content like these pieces by French artists for the World Exhibition in Paris over 100 years ago. They make being a GeekDad even more awesome.

If you know any other great images that could help children understand the future, and the history of the future - please share them in the comments.

(via Public Domain Review)

Please note: the author of this blog acknowledges some readers may find the use of the word "awesome" in this post excessive. Your concerns have been noted.