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The world's first surviving quintuplets
The Dionne quintuplets with their mother, 1934.
( Library and Archives Canada/PA-133260)
On May 28, 1934, Oliva and Elzire Dionne of Corbeil, Ontario became the parents of five tiny baby girls: Annette, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie. Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe helped deliver the premature babies, who together weighed about 13.6 pounds. The identical quintuplets were the first quintuplets in the world to survive more than a few days. News of the miracle babies soon spread to newspapers around the globe.
Oliva and Elzire Dionne eventually regained custody of the quintuplets, but the large family continued to face many challenges. As the sisters would later write in the book We Were Five, "There was so much more money than love in our existence. It took a long time to realize what it did to us all." For the most famous children in the world, it was not easy to find happiness. Emilie died in 1954 during an epileptic seizure, and Marie died in 1979. The three remaining sisters lived on a small trust fund and eventually managed to force the Ontario government to compensate them for the many years that the quints were on public display for tourists.Discover more
Article from CTV.ca.
A comprehensive site with many digital images of the Dionne Quintuplets, newspaper articles, and a timeline. Partners for this project include The Dionne Quints Museum, North Bay Area Museum, North Bay Public Library and Callander Bay Heritage Museum.
A brief profile about the Dionne Quintuplets and information about The Dionne Quints Museum. Films/Videos/Television/Radio:
Thousands of souvenirs depicting the Dionne quintuplets were produced to capitalize on their fame. The items included dolls, spoons, breakfast sets, handkerchiefs, pennants, wall plaques, calendars, note cards, paper dolls, etc. There was even a cake topper featuring a stork and little plastic Dionne babies.
Dionne quintuplets dolls made by Madame Alexander Doll Company, New York.
(© CMCC 981.61.1-5)
A reader of heroines.ca from the United Kingdom shared photographs of a Dionne quintuplets souvenir which she inherited from her mother. Moira Beach, who lives in Bakewell, Derbyshire, UK, was surprised to find the small linen cloth depicting the Dionne Quintuplets among her mother's belongings, as her mother was born in Ireland, lived there when the babies were born, and never visited Canada.
Dionne quintuplets tablecloth.
(© Moira Beach)
Dionne quintuplets memorabilia are still popular on ebay and other shopping websites.
Dionne quintuplets calendar.
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