Corona Hit By Virus

[EDIT 5/1/2020: THIS APRIL FOOL’S DAY POST IS A JOKE]

One hundred years ago today … In an unbelievable coincidence with 2020 events, the Queens neighborhood of Corona was plagued by a contagious virus, called “the Corona Virus.”

The Evening Daytime. 1 April, 1920. Nopapers.com

The Evening Daytime. 1 April, 1920. Nopapers.com

The April 1 article from the The Evening Daytime mentions the “shelter-in-place” strategy, and the possibility of school closings. Below, a 1927 photo of Public School 18, at the corner of 104th St. and Corona Avenue, taken by street photographer Percy Loomis Sperr—the subject of a fine article in The Outline.

The coincidences continue, as the article describes stores with shortages of “toilet paper, Mexican beer, macha latte mix, La Croix seltzer, fresh whole-grain rice sushi, and Quaker brand all-purpose gruel.”


WRITTEN BY JONATHAN GOLDMAN, APRIL FOOL’S DAY, 2020.

Tags: Corona Virus, Queens, Percy Loomis Spurr