Historical archives have found what people in 1923 thought life in 2023 would be like - with women wearing trousers, playing tennis and running all the businesses. Men, on the other hand, should by now all be working from home and just doing four hours work a day.
Cars are supposed to be obsolete by now, tennis is supposed to be really popular and all our work should be being done by 'forces'.
Findmypast and the British Newspaper Archive have released research that reveals what people 100 years ago thought life was going to be like in 2023. Among the archives is an article reporting on elementary schoolgirls at Wood Green, London, who were asked to write an essay on what life for women will be like in 2023.
They said that women would be 'as masculine as possible' by 2023 - wearing breeches and playing tennis while their husbands work from home. They also predicted much more intelligent babies who all know the alphabet and can count to 100.
Leeds Mercury – 22 nd September 1923
Another article worked out that, as women in business had increased so rapidly since 1880 they would be in charge of everything by 2023. It reads: "According to statistics, the percentage of women occupied in commercial, financial and industrial undertakings in America has enormously increased since 1880. An American business women has recently come to the conclusion that by the year 2023 these enterprises will be entirely in the hands of women."
The Vote - 19 th October 1923
Dr Charles Proteus Steinmetz, successor to Thomas Edison and electrical engineer at the General Electric Company, on the other hand claimed that by the year 2023 'mankind will not have to work more than four hours a day'.
He said that by now most of our work should be being done by 'electricity or other forces'. The newspaper report asked what anyone would find to do with the other 20 hours of their day.
Shields Daily News – 6 th September 1923
A report in the Belfast Telegraph claimed that by 2023 cars would be obsolete and people would be amused at how people used to park in city centres. While it didn't specify how we would be travelling it said we would be able to get from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 10 minutes.
Belfast Telegraph – 26 th December 1923
Another report, from London, also claimed cars would be obsolete by now, with the capital covered by a vast network of underground trains. It said that by 2023, thanksto the lack of traffic, we would be living in 'peace and silence', and we would have 'eradicated all the evils that were once part of life'.
Pall Mall Gazette – 10 th September 1923
