For a time in the 1930s, five sisters were the biggest tourist attraction in Ontario, surpassing even Niagara Falls. But behind the scenes, they were exploited by everyone around them, including the Ontario Government. This is the story of the Dionne Quintuplets. 🧵1/16 - ThreadSky

cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social • 19 days ago

For a time in the 1930s, five sisters were the biggest tourist attraction in Ontario, surpassing even Niagara Falls.
But behind the scenes, they were exploited by everyone around them, including the Ontario Government.
This is the story of the Dionne Quintuplets.

🧵1/16

Comments

brierhill.bsky.social•19 days ago

There were quintuplets born in Pictou County NS before these. I will try to find the book for you

hawkhawkins1.bsky.social•19 days ago

🥹

joanlpicard.bsky.social•19 days ago

Their story is such a sad one. Poor wee girls.

tomjokic.bsky.social•19 days ago

My fiancée’s father, pictured here, knew the Dionne quintuplets.
His father, Ildor Joyal, was their doctor after Dafoe left the scene. He was also the doctor of the other Dionne children. He did not monetize his connection with the family.

cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•19 days ago

On May 28, 1934, five girls (Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie) were born to Oliva-Édouard and Elzire outside Corbeil, Ontario.
Born premature, they were the first known quintuplets to survive infancy.
They were delivered by local doctor Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe.

🧵2/16

cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•19 days ago

Their total weight at birth was 13 pounds six ounces (6.1 kg). The babies were kept in a wicker basket borrowed from neighbours, covered with heated blankets. They were each massaged by olive oil and given water sweetened with corn syrup.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•19 days ago

News of the births quickly spread around Canada and then North America. Donations for the children poured in. Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children sent 28 ounces of breast milk every morning by train. The Toronto Star bought incubators for the children.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•19 days ago

Four months after the Quints were born, Oliva and Elzire signed custody over to the Red Cross for a period of two years. The Red Cross in return agreed to cover all medical costs.
In February 1935, Oliva and Elzire travelled to Chicago and made stage appearances.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•19 days ago

Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn used that trip to take over control of the children.
In March 1935, his government passed the Dionne Quintuplets Act. The Act made the Quints wards of the Crown until they were 18.
A Board of Guardians was established.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•19 days ago

Soon after, the Dafoe Hospital and Nursey was built for the Quints. It featured an outdoor playground with a public observation area. Tourists could watch the girls behind one-way screens. The complex was surrounded by a 2.13 metre barbed wire fence.

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collburns.bsky.social•19 days ago

My parents took me to see the house in Callander Ontario when I was a child. I still have a book I picked up with lots of photos of the children. It’s a sad story, really! The government turned them into a circus!

arar55.bsky.social•19 days ago

The house has been moved at least a couple of times. For a while, it was at the intersection of Highway 11 & 17 and Franklin Street in North Bay. Now it's downtown, more or less. You can hardly see it here in Google street view (it's the white house)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dhdueQRMVHuwjGxs8

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