by Ben Crane

Near the end of the 1800s, America was in the midst of a second industrial revolution and optimistic about where their technology would lead them. So much so, that as the turn of the century approached, it became popular to make predictions about the year 2000, one hundred years hence.

The trade cards shown below are a set of 12 stock cards that predict what things will be like in the year 2000. This set was most likely produced at the Kuntsdruck-Friedberg printing plant in Berlin, Germany, and is found in both American and European versions. The images are identical for both versions, but the American cards are in English and have wider and more decorative borders. The European cards were imprinted for chocolate companies in Germany and Belgium, and the English language cards were imprinted for at least 14 different American companies. [These two paragraphs are based on the article "One Hundred years hence" by Richard Sheaff appearing in the Winter, 1999, issue of "The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly" published by The Trade Card Collector's Association].

Shown below are thumbnail images (at 25 percent of actual size) of these trade cards. Cards 1 through 8 are in the collection of Henry and Margaret Szlachta, and cards 9 through 12 are in the collection of Mary Jane Stevens.

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or click here to begin viewing the cards in slide show fashion.