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Le Petit Journal was a daily Paris newspaper from 1863 to 1944, and here it is, adorning the walls of a Metro station near you. If you are near Réaumur Sébastopol on line 3, that is.
I'm not quite sure why they have some pages from this venerable old publication, and I can't see any connection between the pages displayed and either the metro station in question or any upcoming events, but it's an oh-so welcome change from the tiresome ads we are subjected to every day of our commuting lives.
Before the turn of the century even, Le Petit Journal had a circulation of a million copies, including a weekly supplement with pictures, just like newspapers today. Or maybe I should say that newspapers today have coloured supplements just like Le Petit Journal used to have.
As well as championing cycling and motorcar races the publication often included serialised novels and eye-catching colour covers showing prints or etchings of newsworthy events of the day.
Graphic war scenes and gory accidents, as well as society happenings would all be common themes. I'm looking at a charming full page illustration as I type, captioned 'Enfant tué par un gendarme Prussien' (Child killed by a Prussian policeman), and sure enough, there's the bastard Hun shooting an innocent boy in the back.
Sensationalism to sell or objective reporting of events as they happened? Was The Sun school of journalism hatched here? I wasn't there at the time, so your guess is as good as mine.
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© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.
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