100 ans de métro (1900-2000)
RATP logo
histoire(s) de métro

Première moitié du XX siècle

Cadre publicitaire

Dès ses débuts, le métro prévoit des cadres publicitaires destinés à accueillir les réclames sous forme d’affiches ou même, plus rarement, sous forme de faïences décoratives.

La compagnie Nord-Sud, qui ouvre son réseau en 1910, agrémente ces panneaux publicitaires d’une frise décorative. La CMP (Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris) fait de même à partir de 1922.

Les encadrements de ces espaces publicitaires sont généralement ornés de frises en céramique de couleur miel, qui reprennent des motifs de feuilles ou de fleurs. Dans les couloirs, ces encadrements rejoignent les frises marron, vertes ou bleues qui séparent le carrelage blanc biseauté de la voûte peinte.

One of the signs describing the Paris metro history and which was set to commemorate 100 years of the Metro.

The current sign photographed at the Alma-Marceau station indicates the design of the advertising frames found in the train stations.

RATP - Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens - Autonomous Parisian Transportation Administration

In the following photo taken that day at the Saint-Augustin station, you can see the honey-colored frame, and the flower-like upper part that can be seen in the illustration on the sign Click for a larger image
A focused look at the frame decorations can be seen in the following photos taken a few months later at the RUE de la POMPE station Click for a larger image Click for a larger image Click for a larger image

Translation of the text on the sign:
100 years of the metro (1900-2000)
metro history

First half of the 20th century

Advertising frame

From its beginnings, the metro provided advertising frames intended to accommodate advertisements in the form of posters or even, more rarely, in the form of decorative earthenware.

The Nord-Sud company, which opened its network in 1910, decorated these advertising panels with a decorative frieze. The CMP (Paris Metropolitan Railway Company) did the same from 1922.

The frames of these advertising spaces are generally decorated with honey-colored ceramic friezes, which feature leaf or flower motifs. In the corridors, these frames join the brown, green or blue friezes which separate the beveled white tiles from the painted vault.