En L'An 2000: The Automated Barber Shop, French Futurist Postcard c.1900

Step into the barbershop of tomorrow as imagined at the dawn of the twentieth century. This delightful chromolithograph from the celebrated French 'En L'An 2000' series depicts a mechanical barber — a multi-armed articulated automaton — tending to a reclining customer while a human operator manages a wall-mounted control panel bristling with dials and gauges. The image captures the era's optimistic faith in automation, rendered with the charming naivety of Belle Époque futurism.