Dionne quintuplets

As of 2022, there are two surviving sisters, Annette and Cécile. Yvonne died in 2001.

Shelley Wood's novel about the sisters, The Quintland Sisters, was published on March 5, 2019. It is a fictionalized account of the sisters' story from the point of view of one of the midwives' assistants.

In 2018, the birth of the quintuplets was named a National Historic Event.

The original family homestead was moved around 1960 to a location on Highway 11B (near the present Clarion Resort), and again in 1985 to North Bay and converted into the non-profit Dionne Quintuplets Museum. The museum was first located at the intersection of Highway 11 and the Trans Canada Highway and features many artifacts from the quints' early days and their growing years. As of October 2016, the museum closed, and the city of North Bay was considering selling the building as surplus, though a petition was circulated by citizens to have it designated and preserved as a historical structure. In 2017, plans surfaced for the city to sell the building, and relocate it to a fairground in the village of Sundridge 75 km south of North Bay. On November 9, 2017, the City of North Bay announced plans to move the house on November 19 to a new site in downtown North Bay (on Oak Street in a vacant area between Marina Point Retirement Residence and Discovery North Bay Museum, a former CPR Station c. 1903) and reopened in spring 2019.

The publicity around the birth and display of the quintuplets inspired the 1999 episode of The Simpsons, "Eight Misbehavin'".

In 1997, the three surviving sisters wrote an open letter to the parents of the McCaughey septuplets, warning against allowing too much publicity for the children, after which they reached a $4 million settlement with the Ontario government as compensation for their exploitation.

In particular, Oliva Dionne was resentful and suspicious of outsiders as a result of his having lost custody of the girls. In 1995, the three surviving sisters alleged that their father had sexually abused them during their teenage years. Their father violated them. He bought liniment claiming it would help with Yvonne's chest cold. As a 13-year-old she felt pressured to undress in front of her father. Her father rubbed the liniment on her neck, sternum, shoulders, and ribs. Then, he turned to Emilie and told her he needed to apply the liniment on her too. The quintuplets feared going for car drives with their father and felt the need to dress extra conservatively on these drives because of him. Annette wore turtlenecks to prevent her father from violating her. During car rides the girls were squished up front with their father as the back seats were in for repair. He allegedly French kissed them and put his fingers down their blouses.

Annette and Cécile both eventually divorced and by the 1990s, the three surviving sisters lived together in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville.

E.L. Doctorow references the quintuplets in his novel World's Fair (1985) in a chapter 2 passage "I don't trust that doctor", she said of the physician attending the Dionne quintuplets. "He likes the limelight too much."

In 1965, author James Brough wrote a book, in cooperation with the then four surviving sisters, called We Were Five. Pierre Berton published a biography called The Dionne Years: A Thirties Melodrama in 1977 and narrated a 1978 National Film Board of Canada documentary. John Nihmey and Stuart Foxman published the fictional Time of Their Lives – The Dionne Tragedy in 1986. Nihmey's and Foxman's book was the basis for the 1994 TV miniseries Million Dollar Babies, produced by CBC and CBS and starring Beau Bridges, Roy Dupuis and Céline Bonnier.

The quintuplets left the family home upon turning 18 years old in 1952 and had little contact with their parents afterwards. Three went on to marry and have children: Marie had two daughters, Annette had three sons, and Cécile had five children, including one who died in infancy and twins Bruno and Bertrand. Émilie devoted her brief life to becoming a nun. Yvonne finished nursing school before turning to sculpting, then later becoming a librarian. Émilie died at the age of 20 as a result of a seizure. She had a series of seizures while she was a postulant at a convent and had asked not to be left unattended, but the nun who was supposed to be watching her thought she was asleep and went to Mass. Émilie had another seizure, rolled onto her belly and, unable to raise her face from her pillow, accidentally suffocated. In 1970, Marie was living alone in an apartment and her sisters were worried after not hearing from her in several days. Her doctor went to her home and found her in bed, Marie having been dead for days. A blood clot was found on her brain.

In the 1946 Looney Tunes cartoon Baby Bottleneck, Daffy Duck is shown taking phone calls from a handful of celebrity fathers including Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby and Oliva Dionne (who is quickly dismissed by Daffy with a curt "Mr. Dionne, puh-lease!").

In the 1945 film Duffy's Tavern, Archie played by Ed Gardner, asks another character (Ms. Duffy), "what else did you see while you were up there [in Canada], did you see the, uh, quintuplets?!"

In the 1944 film The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, an American girl has six boys. The news makes headlines around the world. A newspaper headline is shown: "Canada Demands Recount".

Up until the quintuplet's birth, Dafoe was a country doctor. He received additional attention when he delivered the quintuplets and was seen as a doctor having much knowledge on child care and health. Up until 1942 when Dafoe retired, he was known as the world's best doctor. He wrote a book, numerous pamphlets, and had a radio broadcast all with the intention of helping mothers with infant care. His broadcasts were sponsored by companies and brands such as Lysol wipes, which were seen as effective at preventing infections for newborn babies. Mothers were highly appreciative of Dr. Dafoe's advice as they were actively looking for advice from professionals in the health care or child care fields. Eventually Dafoe was viewed as taking advantage of his new come fame. He spent much money and was removed as one of the three primary caretakers of the quintuplets. This removal involved Oliva Dionne as he took legal action to regain custody over his children. The general public did not know Dafoe profited $182,466 in 1943, which is equivalent to millions of dollars today.

In the 1941 film Dumbo, a musical number, titled "Look Out for Mr. Stork", contains lyrics mentioning "those quintuplets and the woman in the shoe".

The Dionne quintuplets also appeared in numerous newsreels and a short documentary film called Five Times Five in 1939. This film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two-reel) in 1940. In 1942, they appeared in one of James A. Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks Land of the Quintuplets shortly before they were returned to their parents. In 1998, the three surviving sisters, Cécile, Annette and Yvonne, participated in an hour-long documentary, "Full Circle: The Untold Story of the Dionne Quintuplets", written and directed by Maya Gallus, and broadcast on the CBC documentary series Life & Times.

By 1939 Dr. Dafoe had resigned as guardian and Oliva Dionne was gaining more support to have his family reunited. The family was reunited because their parents made efforts to regain custody over their children. Also, the Catholic Church and French-speaking communities in both Quebec and Ontario pressured the government to give Oliva Dionne custody. These efforts and pressure stemmed from the fact that the Dionnes had never agreed to the removal of the quintuplets from their custody. In 1942, the Dionne family moved into the nursery with the quintuplets while they waited for their new home to be completed. In November 1943, the entire Dionne family moved into their new home. The yellow brick, 20-room mansion was paid for out of the quintuplets' fund. The home had many amenities that were considered luxuries at the time, including telephones, electricity and hot water and was nicknamed "The Big House". The building is now a retirement home.

In the short story "Mandarin Jade", Raymond Chandler wrote in Chapter 3 of "an advertising calendar showing the Dionne quintuplets rolling around on a sky-blue floor". In chapter 11 of his 1939 novel The Big Sleep, Chandler described "an advertising calendar showing the Quints rolling around on a sky-blue floor, in pink dresses, with seal-brown hair and sharp black eyes as large as mammoth prunes".

In the 1939 film The Women, Joan Crawford's character Crystal Allen schemes to convince her boyfriend of her domestic skills. Her friend jokingly asks her, "Why don't you borrow the quintuplets for the evening?"

In Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise (1939), towards the end of the film, Moe Howard tells Curly to wish for quintuplets and Curly responds that honeymooning in Canada with their new found loves is how to make the wish come true, a reference to the Dionne quintuplets

Elzire was 24 when she gave birth to the quintuplets. She suspected she was carrying twins, but no one was aware that quintuplets were even possible. The quintuplets were born premature. In 1938, the doctors had a theory that was later proven correct when genetic tests showed that the girls were identical, meaning they were created from a single egg cell. Elzire reported having cramps in her third month and passing a strange object which may have been a sixth fetus.

In the 1937 British comedy film Oh, Mr Porter!, Will Hay's character "Porter" puns on "Murphy" telling him his wife's had quinsy (a complication of tonsillitis), replying "What, like that woman in Canada?"

Disney: Pluto's Quin-Puplets (1937) – the first animated short officially starring Pluto – was cleverly created in the wake of the 1930s craze kicked up by the celebrated Dionne quintuplets: Pluto and Fifi are seen as "Mr. And Mrs. Pluto", the parents of five mischievous mini-Plutos.

The Dionnes also had three sons after the quintuplets: Oliva Jr. (1936–2017), Victor (1938–2007), and Claude (1946–2009).

When visits first started, the visitors watched the quintuplets through a window in the hospital. The hospital quickly realized that this was not good for the quintuplets as they were excited when visitors came and became irritated when they left. Telling visitors not to make loud noises was not enough to prevent them from doing so. They were displayed four times a day. The observatory opened on Canada Day in 1936. Thousands of tourists came to see the sisters and hundreds of cars flooded in. The visitors were told to stay silent and not speak to the girls, continue moving to avoid blockages, if the weather was bad the girls would not be shown, and no photographs were allowed to be taken. The girls knew they were watched as they could hear screams and laughter. The one-way screens did not fully block out the visitors, acting more as frosted glass.

Approximately 3,000 people per day visited the observation gallery that surrounded the outdoor playground to view the Dionne sisters. Ample parking was provided and almost 3,000,000 people walked through the gallery between 1936 and 1943. Oliva Dionne ran a souvenir shop and a woollen store opposite the nursery and the area acquired the name "Quintland". The souvenirs, picturing the five sisters, included autographs and framed photographs, spoons, cups, plates, plaques, candy bars, books, postcards, and dolls. Available to the public for free in bins were stones from the area that claimed to have the magical power of fertility – the bins would need to be refilled almost every day. Plus, women without children touched Oliva Dionne as they believed that he could increase their chances of fertility. Midwives Madame LeGros and Madame Lebel worked at five different souvenir shops at different times. The quintuplets brought in more than $50 million in total tourist revenue to Ontario. Quintland became Ontario's biggest tourist attraction of the era, surpassing the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. It was only rivalled by Radio City Music Hall, Mount Vernon, and Gettysburg in the United States. Hollywood stars who came to Callander to visit the Quints included Clark Gable, James Stewart, Bette Davis, James Cagney, and Mae West. Amelia Earhart also visited Callander just six weeks before her ill-fated flight in 1937. Only five people could be in a room with the quintuplets at one time. These individuals were sprayed with disinfectant.

In the 1936 film My Man Godfrey, Angelica Bullock, played by Alice Brady, references the Dionne quintuplets with the line, "If a woman in Canada can have five children, why can't Godfrey?"

Three of the Dionne quintuplets were referenced by Curly Howard in a Three Stooges short entitled "False Alarms", aired August 15, 1936.

The Dionne girls were premature. After four months with their family, custody was signed over to the Red Cross who paid for their care and oversaw the building of a hospital for the sisters. Less than a year after this agreement was signed, the Ontario government stepped in and passed the Dionne Quintuplets' Guardianship Act, 1935 which made them wards of the Crown until the age of 18. The Ontario provincial government and those around them began to profit by making them a significant tourist attraction.

In the 1935 film A Night at the Opera, Chico makes an oblique reference to the quintuplets, when he says that "duplicates" are "those five kids up in Canada".

The Dionne quintuplets (French pronunciation: ​[djɔn]; born May 28, 1934) are the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy. The identical girls were born just outside Callander, Ontario, near the village of Corbeil. All five survived to adulthood.

Although Oliva Dionne revoked the contract only days later citing that his wife, Elzire Dionne, did not sign it and therefore it didn't make the contract valid, the Tour Bureau claimed otherwise. On approximately July 27, 1934, the first guardianship bill was signed. Oliva and Elzire Dionne signed custody of the quintuplets over to the Red Cross for a period of two years to protect them from this contract and in return the Red Cross would cover all medical costs. This included the nurses' wages, supplies, and ensuring that enough breast milk was shipped to the hospital. They also oversaw the building of a hospital built specifically for the Dionne quintuplets. In February 1935 the Dionnes travelled to Chicago as "Parents of the World Famous Babies" and made stage appearances. The Premier of Ontario at the time, Mitchell Hepburn, used the Dionne vaudeville trip as an excuse to extend the guardianship. He claimed that they must save the babies from further exploitation and, in March 1935, pushed the Dionne Quintuplets Act through government that officially made the girls wards of the Crown and extended guardianship to the age of eighteen. Although Oliva Dionne had a seat on the Board of Guardians, he rarely attended meetings as he felt his vote wouldn't matter against the other three guardians: Dr. Dafoe, Joseph Valin and Minister of Welfare David Croll. These three guardians met once a month and had full control over business matters involving the quintuplets. They were involved in caring for the girls, managing money, and creating contracts for business opportunities such as appearances in films and commercials. The stated reason for removing the quintuplets from their parents' legal custody was to ensure their survival and protection from promoters.

Across the road from their birthplaces, the Dafoe Hospital and Nursery was built for the five girls and their new caregivers. The girls were moved from the farmhouse to this nursery on September 21, 1934, and lived there until they were nine years old. The compound had an outdoor playground designed to be a public observation area. It was surrounded by a covered arcade, which allowed tourists to observe the sisters behind one-way screens. The one-way screens were installed to prevent noise and distraction. The facility was funded by a Red Cross fundraiser. The sisters were brought to the playground two or three times a day in front of the crowd. It was a nine-room nursery with a staff house nearby. The staff house held the three nurses and the three police in charge of guarding them, while a housekeeper and two maids lived in the main building with the quintuplets. The buildings were surrounded by a seven-foot (2.13 m) barbed-wire fence.

The quintuplet's trust fund grew rapidly with each newspaper and newsreel that shared their name. In 1934, a photographer from the Toronto Star, Fred Davis signed a contract stating that the $10,000 the Newspaper Enterprise Association put into the trust fund disallows anyone else from photographing the quintuplets for a year, including their parents. Each newsreel that Pathé News made meant that a deposit between $12,000 to $15,000 was made in the trust fund. The Madame Alexander Doll Company offered the quintuplets five percent of its total sales ($25,000) as many people bought dolls that resembled the quintuplets, especially during Christmas. By their second birthday, their bank account had $250,000.

Although the quintuplet's trust fund was secured by the Canadian government, they were not rich nor living comfortably. They were making $746 monthly. The money in their trust fund decreased through spending on marriage, houses, child support, and divorce. It was discovered that their trust fund contained less money than what was made from advertisements and photographs of the quintuplets. Instead of the government paying for research, food, and travel expenses for photographers and filmmakers, the payment came from the quintuplet's trust fund. When the sisters released their book revealing the harsh memories from their childhood, the government was unmoved. They did not consider the suffering their actions caused and their impact on the quintuplet's childhood. The sisters requested $10 million from the Canadian government and received no response. With the help of Bertrand (Cecile's son), news released that documents concerning the quintuplets from 1934 to 1937 were burned. After this news released, $2000 per month was offered to the three living sisters by Premier Mike Harris. The sisters believed this offer was an insult to them and could not pay off the damage that had been done. They just wanted what was stolen from their trust fund. They took their need to media. The sisters turned down offers of 2 and 3 million dollars. They accepted 4 million dollars and an analysis of their trust accounts. Harris visited the sisters and apologized on behalf of the government. The quintuplets had finally put their story in the public's eye and challenged the Ontario government.

The Dionne family was headed by father Oliva-Édouard (1904–1979) and mother Elzire Dionne (née Legros; 1909–1986), who married on September 15, 1925. They lived just outside Corbeil, in a farmhouse in unregistered territory. The Dionnes were a French-speaking farming family with five older children, Ernest (1926–1995), Rose Marie (1928–1995), Thérèse (1929–2021), Daniel (1932–1995), and Pauline (1933–2018), who was only eleven months older than the quintuplets. A sixth child, Léo (1930-1930), died of pneumonia shortly after birth.