G.I. Black Market

G.I.s who at first found themselves paupers in price-inflated Paris (TIME, Sept. 18) have by now solved their problem. Since goods were worth far more than money, they soon discovered that they ought to buy with goods.

One soldier swapped a 2-lb. can of coffee for a bright scarlet dress in Schiaparelli's shop. Eyeing the coffee greedily, the Schiaparelli manager moaned: "Vous etes dur, monsieur."

Since barter has its limitations, more often the G.I.s sell for cash. Informal G.I. markets have sprung up around the Arc de Triomphe, in the Place Pigalle, under the Eiffel Tower, in bistros, restaurants, around jeeps pausing in traffic jams. These sales give soldiers enough money to buy at Paris prices.

MPs and French civil police arrest both buyers and sellers when they catch them at this black-market trade. However, in Paris the black market is recognized as an economic safety valve which saved goods from the German conquerors. The real objection to the G.I.s' trade is from the U.S. Army, because many of them sell U.S. government property (K rations, Army gasoline, etc.).

In Paris' Figaro, a letter writer pleaded with U.S. soldiers: "We pray you refuse these monstrous prices which are the leftover of an odious black market whose death we want. . . . You may succeed better than we."

Actually the G.I. black market too has acted as a safety valve by helping to break Paris' high prices. Cigarets are down from 300 francs a pack to 140; a 2-lb. can of coffee from 6,000 francs to 3,000. The prices of canned meats, cheese, cooked eggs are tumbling equally fast as well-supplied G.I.s and others mitigate the goods shortage.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.