> Introduction

In our research project, we studied and compared storefronts of Paris in 1970 to their modern-day versions, to note similarities and differences between the past and present of commercial activity in Paris, using text detection software and Google Maps. Based on our photos of interest, we decided to narrow our field of focus to squares 56, 57, and 59, defined by the “C’était Paris en 1970” contest boundaries. These squares can be found in the 18th arrondissement, located in northern Paris near the River Seine and situated amid a network of busy streets with several businesses and shops.

Map Squares 56, 57, and 59

Map Square 56 consists mainly of Rue Letort, Rue Championet, Boulevard Ornano, and Rue Duhesme. The photographers in 1970 captured mostly small businesses: restaurants, breweries, cafes, and laundromats. Other notable stores were a tire shop and a radio store.

Map Square 57 covers Rue Championnet, Rue Ordener, Rue du Marche Ordener, and Rue Desire Ruggieri. Photographs in this square capture an array of businesses, including several open-air stalls, a department store and a bakery. The layout of square 57 has remained largely unchanged, with several businesses from 1970 still being present today.

Map Square 59 covers Rue de Poteau, Rue Letort, Rue Duhesme, Rue du Ruisseau, Rue André Messager, Rue Emile Blemont, and Rue Ordener. Photographs in this square capture hotels and restaurants.

Research Process

Initially, our group noticed a prevalence of storefronts in the photographs. In order to collect data on which contest squares had the most images with storefronts, we used text-detection software on the entire database, yielding approximately 1780 images to sort though. Many of the text-based results were not relevant to our project (such as posters, a bus, and street signs) and some results did not contain text at all (such as the software mistaking tree branches or a cluttered image as text). However, by manually searching through the results, we determined that squares 56, 57, and 59 held the most potential storefronts for us to analyze.

Irrelevant results with the OCR results shown

Poster

Bus

Street Sign

Tree branches

Cluttered image

Once we determined a suitable set of photographs to analyze, identified by the text detection software and constrained to our three target squares, we selected several photos of interest. To compare the modern streets of Paris with their 1970 counterparts, we ventured into Google Maps to explore the streets of each map square, searching for shared landmarks and architecture from the photos we identified.

Limitations

When manually searching the databases in our squares, we found several blurry images of storefronts [Fig. 10] and open-stall shops overlooked by the text detection software. This is one shortcoming of using the text-detection software to search for shopfronts to address our question. The impermanent and impromptu nature of pop-up stalls may be a factor behind the lack of signage that would be captured by text detection software, so these types of businesses are loopholes in our research method.

Results

Le Stephanois (Map Square 56)

In the 1970s, Le Stephanois was a cafe, next to a hotel and a sweetshop. The current time shows Le Stephanois as a pizza place with a brewery on top of the store next to an artisan bakery.

Le Fontenoy (Map Square 56)

Le Fontenoy, a pub, remains in purple and a different font. The banner on the top of the shop still advertises as “cafe” and “tabac.”

Le Royal Mont Cenis (Map Square 56)

Le Royal Mont Cenis, a restaurant, remains with a new name and modern design: Bistrot Mont Cenis.

84 Rue Championnet

What used to be a cafe and bar on 84 Rue Championnet is now a restaurant called Les Initiés.

Radio Shop

The radio shop with Schaub Lorenz on the side is now an empty place for rent.

Laundromat (Map Square 56)

A laundromat on 135 Rue du Mont Cenis is replaced with a new residential building. The rest of the street is reconstructed as well.

Levi’s Ad (Map Square 56)

The building with the Levi’s ad is now a black building with a restaurant called Champion

Prisunic / Monoprix (Map Square 57)

Prisunic was a Parisian department store chain founded in 1931 that democratized the universe of clothing and furniture. The department store adopted the slogan “Beauty for the price of ugliness” in the 1950s to emphasize their mission to offer affordable and fashionable furniture and clothing. In 1997, Monoprix acquired Prisunic. A Monoprix store replaced Prisunic at the same location and remains open until today. Fig7. was taken in June, 2022. Though created more than 50 years apart, the two photographs display almost identical compositions. In an attempt to capture the entire front, both photographers chose to shoot from the right side of the store. They both happened to record pedestrians walking into their lenses.

La Palette des Vines (Map Square 57)

This location is at the intersection between Rue Ordener and Rue Desire Ruggieri. Depicted above in the left region of the images is the sign for “La Palette des Vins.” The left photo is from 1970 and the right from today. The store remains in the same location today.

Storefront behind a statue (Map Square 57)

This location is on Rue Championnet. In the images above, a storefront from 1970 in the same area today can be discerned from the presence of the same statue across the road. Unlike the images from Figs. 8, 9, the storefront, regardless of whether it’s the same store, has been modernized.

Fig. 10, storefront behind a statue in 1970

Fig. 11, storefront behind a statue in today

Intersection of Rue Duhesme and Rue Ordener (Map Square 59)

This location is at the intersection of Rue Duhesme and Rue Ordener, where the former shifts from a vehicle to a pedestrian road. This location is identifiable by the historical architecture and balconies above the red storefront in both past and present. It can also be noted that the adjacent building on the right has been built up over time. While the businesses prominent in the past and present differ, the location still features as a commercial hub. In both images, pedestrians can be seen passing by.

There are 3 pictures of this corner from the 1970 photo database, as shown above. A potential reason for this prevalence can be attributed to the distance afforded by the cross-section of the streets to gain a wider camera angle to get a complete view of the landscape, since camera technology was not as advanced as it is now.

Fig. 12, Rotisserie Duhesme in 1970 (1/3)

Fig. 13, Rotisserie Duhesme in 1970 (2/3)

Fig. 14, Rotisserie Duhesme in 1970 (3/3)

Intersection of Rue du Poteau and Rue Emile Blemont (Map Square 59)

This location is at the intersection of Rue du Poteau and Rue Emile Blemont. The building landscape is different between 1970 and today due to some additions above the 1970 Le Blemont establishment. These locations are identifiable due to the distinct wrought iron balconies and external window frames on either side of the Le Blemont/Naturalia shops [Figs. 16, 19].

Conclusion

This research project focused on the storefronts photographed in the 18th arrondissement, specifically in squares 56, 57, 59. These photographs granted viewers a glimpse into the layout and the diverse commercial activities in the 18th arrondissement. The squares served as a commercial hub that housed the necessities to everyday life – restaurants, hotels, auto shops, grocery stores, open-air markets.