George wrote:

Absolutely. The strip is there to keep them from adhering to each other in
the package. The reveal used on installation should put the fresh tar off
of the strip.

Sorry, but I don't quite understand that. I have been doing an excess
of shingle replacement in the wake of the Florida hurricanes, and those
strips are still on all the old shingles. There is no sign that any of
the shingles have adhered to the one underneath, as it seems they would
have done if the (paper, in this case) strips had been removed. And if
that is not the purpose of that band of tar, I can't think what it would be.

FWIW, in my ignorance I have been pulling the cellophane strip off the
tar and expect the shingles to survive the next hurricane a lot better
as a result.

Owen Davies