For seven straight days in September 1914, Paris became a World War I battleground as German pilots dropped 50 bombs on the city during the First Battle of the Marne. Notre Dame Cathedral was damaged and notes were dropped alongside the bombs demanding the immediate surrender of Paris and the French nation. How do you go about daily life in the midst of a war so close to home? Well, Parisians got creative. To protect shoppers during a potential German air raid, shopkeepers applied a sticky tape to display windows which would prevent the glass from shattering dangerously in all directions. But they didn’t just slap this stuff over the glass randomly, without method. For the remainder of the war, Parisian shopfronts competed for the most artistic use of anti-bombardment tape in their window designs. This is Paris after all, where even during wartime, elegance is a priority. …
