En L'An 2000: Underwater Café with Diving Helmets, French Futurist Postcard

A French viewer around 1900 would have laughed with delighted disbelief at this vision of tomorrow: a bustling café sitting entirely beneath the sea, patrons in golden diving helmets lounging casually at bistro tables while a waiter serves drinks, a large red fish peers in from the lower left, and tiny submarine vessels drift past the glass walls like passing carriages. It perfectly captures Belle Époque optimism — that the future would be familiar, comfortable, and absurdly charming.