Imagining the Future: Hildebrands’ Postcards From 1900 and Their Vision of the Year 2000

Personal flying machines.

In the year 1900, with the world teetering on the edge of a new century, people were naturally curious about the future. The German chocolate company Hildebrands decided to capitalise on this curiosity in a way that combined whimsy, creativity, and just a hint of corporate branding genius. Their series of illustrated postcards, titled “Life in the Year 2000”, painted a fascinating—if occasionally laughable—vision of the world a hundred years hence. These charming illustrations, now a nostalgic treasure, reveal as much about the hopes and dreams of the past as they do about the eccentricities of early 20th-century imagination.

Let’s take a tour of these postcards and explore what they got hilariously wrong—and occasionally startlingly right.

Movable pavements.

The Personal Flying Machine

Imagine a bustling city skyline, dotted not with birds or airplanes, but with individuals zipping around on personal flying contraptions. One postcard shows Edwardian gentlemen and ladies in impeccable hats and frock coats gracefully navigating the air. No need for traffic lights—just mind your manners and don’t crash into Mrs Müller’s dirigible.

Fast-forward to today, and while we’ve yet to swap our cars for jetpacks, drones and urban air mobility projects suggest that humanity hasn’t quite given up on this dream. Though frankly, the idea of everyone having a flying device is about as realistic as a traffic jam-free Monday morning.

Moving an entire city block by rail.

Hildebrands Postcards and their depictions of Mobile Mansions

Why settle for a summer cottage when you can pack your entire house onto a railway flatbed and take it along? This postcard depicts families casually moving their homes, complete with chimneys and flower boxes, to new locations by train.

While today’s mobile homes are less about locomotion and more about minimalism, the idea of portability remains alluring. Hildebrands might not have foreseen the tiny house movement, but they were clearly onto something with their mix of wanderlust and domesticity.

A live audiovisual broadcast of a theatre performance.

Weather-controlling machines.

Weather Control Headquarters

The ultimate power move of the future, according to Hildebrands, was taming the weather. One postcard features stern-looking scientists operating elaborate machinery to conjure rain for crops or clear up storm clouds for a picnic. It’s meteorology on steroids, with a healthy dose of Edwardian hubris.

Modern cloud-seeding experiments echo this postcard’s vision, but we’re still far from ordering sunshine on demand. Perhaps that’s for the best—imagine the arguments over who gets a sunny weekend!

A hybrid railship.

Tourist submarines.

Weather-proof city roofing.

Personal airships.

Strolling on a lake with the aid of balloons.

Hildebrands’ postcards weren’t just about wild guesses; they were a snapshot of humanity’s boundless optimism at the dawn of a new century. They reflected the awe and excitement of a world in transformation, dreaming of technological marvels and social progress. Of course, they also showed that some things—like a love of chocolate—are timeless.

As we laugh at their missteps and marvel at their foresight, we might ask ourselves: if a company today created a similar series imagining life in 2100, what would it look like? Self-cleaning houses? Flying cities? A chocolate dispenser in every kitchen?

One thing’s certain—whatever the future holds, it’ll probably involve chocolate.

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