The authorities did not think the war would last long. As a result, solidarity networks for the poor first formed informally based on the model of 19th-century charities at the initiative of private philanthropists and sponsors. The social elite often involved the same individuals as the political elite, and charities began to surface in every one of the twenty administrative divisions or arrondissements. Here, we offer a small sampling of the many charities, with various purposes and recipients, that connected the areas of the capital and appealed to Parisians’ generosity.
Charity for "children's vacations" sponsored by the Mutual Insurance of Abattoirs and Livestock Markets of the City of Paris
Children's camps were organized to remove young Parisians from the dangers of wartime. Good luck charms--figurines of Nénette and Rintintin--are visible around the little boy's neck.
Poster, 1918
