August 5, 2025 • 37 mins
Have you ever heard of the Dionne quintuplets? In this riveting comeback episode, Jessica uncovers the shocking story of the world's first surviving quintuplets, born in rural Canada in 1934. What began as a medical miracle quickly transformed into one of history's most disturbing examples of child exploitation.
These five identical girls—Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emily, and Marie—were removed from their parents and placed under government guardianship, where they became Canada's biggest tourist attraction. Behind one-way screens in a compound dubbed "Quintland," they were displayed to 3,000 visitors daily like animals in a zoo. Their images sold everything from corn syrup to toothpaste, generating millions while they lived behind barbed wire fences.
Jessica traces their journey from public exhibition to family reunification at age nine, where sadly, they faced new traumas in "the saddest home they ever knew." Yet through it all, the sisters maintained an unbreakable bond. Today, the two surviving sisters still live together at age 91, embodying the episode's opening quote: "Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other."
This extraordinary tale raises profound questions about child welfare, governmental authority, and the exploitation of vulnerable individuals. What happens when children become commodities? How do siblings survive unimaginable circumstances together? And what responsibility do we have to protect those who cannot protect themselves? Join us as we explore these questions through the remarkable story of five little girls who captured the world's attention but paid a devastating price.
**Ingrid completely misspoke (surprised?). Cecile passed away at the age of 91, not 92.**
What childhood stories of exploitation have you heard that still haunt you today? Share your thoughts and be sure to subscribe as we return with new sister stories every other week!
Sources:
https://www.life.com/history/the-dionne-quintuplets-little-girls-lost-in-the-harsh-glare-of-fame/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_quintuplets
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/world/canada/cecile-dionne-dead.html
Contact Another Situation:
- Email us at AnotherSituationPodcast@gmail.com
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- Check out our website https://www.AnotherSituationPodcast.com/
Thank you for listening and sharing!!
Music by Tim Crowe
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world
simply by being there for eachother.
Carol Selene.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well, hello and welcome back Hiya sister.
Hiya sister and those well,maybe no one's listening anymore
.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
So welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome back.
Welcome to happy.
What what I was typing?
I don't know what I was typingin.
I started typing in happy and Isaid it out loud.
That makes no sense.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Did you mean to be tapping, not tapping?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
happy, no Tap tap, tap it in.
I was looking up Sister's Daybecause I was going to mention
what day that actually was.
Oh yes, sunday August 3rd.
This is coming out.
Obviously you know it's notSunday August 3rd.
This is coming out, obviously,you know it's not Sunday August
3rd as you're listening.
But we decided to make ourcomeback around Sister's Day,
(01:15):
sisters, so you're welcome andwelcome, and thank you.
Okay, let's not drag this out.
Nobody wants to listen to thistoo much.
Okay, and jessica has a storyfor us.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yes, yes, I do.
It is um kind of sad and kindof not sad.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
This is this is what jessica does.
I, in case you need a reminder.
Jessica cries.
I'm not going to cry this timeand if she's not crying, she
wants all of the rest of us tocry, and it doesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So this is a story that I had never heard of,
though, of a pair of quintupletsfrom Canada which were all the
rage.
That's weird to say they were.
A lot of people knew about themback in the 1900s, which just
made me feel really old sayingthat.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Okay, Wait, what now?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
A lot of people what now Knew about them in the 1900s
.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Why did that make you feel old?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Say 1900?
Because we were born in the1900s.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, not like 1900.
Obviously Just in case any ofyou needed clarification on that
.
But still, why would that makeyou feel old?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I don't know, it just did.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Can I tell my story now?
26-year-olds were born in the1900s.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
May I tell my story?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
please.
Is 26 old.
No, you should say no becauseyou're twice that.
Anyway, carry on.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
This story is about the Dion Quintuplets and I may
not be saying that name right?
I tried to look forpronunciations, pronunciations,
but I how do you?
Spell it D-I-O-N-N-E.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Dion.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Dion Dion.
What did you say?
Dion, diony D-O-N-A.
Oh gosh, okay, ready.
Five identical girls were bornon May 28, 1934, in the village
of Corbeil, ontario, that's, inCanada.
(03:27):
Their names in order of birth—Do we?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
know how common like multi-births were.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I'm going to get to that oh okay, okay, sorry, you
know it's me.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
That's what—you cry, I jump ahead.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Oh my gosh, I know that's what you cry.
I jump ahead.
Oh my gosh, I know.
Their names and order of birthwere Yvonne, annette, cecile,
emily and Marie.
The girls were born two monthsprematurely and collectively
they weighed less than 14 poundsand were reported to be small
enough to be held in one handNot all five of them, but like
(04:03):
one in one hand.
My goodness, I know they werenot expected to survive and were
the first quintuplets in theworld known to have survived.
First quintuplets yes, yes, yes, yes, wow, isn't that crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Well, it's crazy that there was a.
Did their mom survive?
Yes, are you?
She did yes.
Oh, will you let me tell thestory.
I'm sorry, okay, yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Dr Alan Ray Defoe delivered, and he also had two
midwives.
It was just listed as AuntDonalda, so I don't know her
last name.
It's just Aunt Donalda, AuntDonalda, donalda.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Dion.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Maybe, I don't know if it was their aunt.
Oh, okay, yeah, and MadameBenoit Lebel, benoit B-N-O-I-T.
Anyways, about the girls, it'sFrench Benoit.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Benoit, benoit.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
B-N-O-I-T.
Anyways, about the girls, it'sFrench Benoit.
Benoit, emily and Marie sharedan amniotic sac, annette and
Yvonne shared an amniotic sacand it's suspected that Cecile
shared one with a child that wasmiscarried around week 12.
Because the mom reported thatshe passed something around week
12.
And they think that that wouldhave was the baby sister the
(05:29):
baby with Cecile hold on onesecond.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Is your microphone on ?
Yeah, is your microphone on themicrophone settings?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
yeah okay, okay so their mom's name was Elzire.
Yeah, okay, okay.
So their mom's name was Elzireand that's it, period.
Their mom's name was Elzire.
I typoed, I'm sorry it threw meoff.
(06:01):
So the girls were fed, quoteunquote 70-20 formula, which is
cow's milk, boiled water, twospoonfuls spoons full of corn
syrup and one or two drops ofrum.
So that's what the girls werefed.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Well, hey, mm-hmm, I bet they slept, well too 1934.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So word got out after their dad's name is Oliva I'm
probably pronouncing that wrongtoo.
Word got out after the dad'sbrother asked the local paper
how much it would cost to run anannouncement for five babies at
a single birth.
So after he went that to thepaper like word spread
everywhere, that's really cute,though that's what he's asking.
(06:48):
I thought so too.
So after the word spread,people were donating incubators
because what they had done isthey had the like hot water
bottles all over and becausethey didn't have incubators and
they had to keep the girls warmand they were teeny, teeny tiny.
So people donated incubatorsthat did not run electricity
because the family home didn'thave any.
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Finish.
No, finish the thought Sorry.
Okay, and women, you're soannoyed.
See, that's good, we don't havea video.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
And women all over the US, canada and I think some
even came from overseas, sent inbreast milk and were paid 10
cents an ounce, which alsohelped supplement their income,
because 1934, Great Depressionwas, you know yeah, oh gosh,
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So my question, sorry , Did it say like when they were
allowed to go home or how longthey had to stay in the hospital
or no?
Were they home birthed?
They were home birthed, it's 19.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I'm so sorry, hold on , I'll catch up.
Just give me a second.
Oh, my God so there, it's beena long day, okay, stop talking.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's a podcast.
A train, a train.
Could you?
Would you on a train?
A train with 28 ounces ofbreast milk?
Was delivered every morning forthe girls, which doesn't sound
like a lot, but they were soteeny, tiny, all five of them.
(08:23):
This is crazy, this iscraziness.
So they actually went down andbroke down.
They only had estimates for howmuch each girl weighed because
they didn't keep track of that,but I mean five girls less than
14 pounds, that's less thanthree pounds.
Like it's so tiny, they're justso tiny.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Oh, so cute there are .
Life Magazine actually has thiswonderful picture spread.
We'll put the link in the shownotes because the pictures are
copyrighted, I can't share themourselves, but oh my gosh,
they're just adorable.
Okay, so this is where it getsa little icky.
So the girl's father, olivaDion he had a problem Before the
(09:08):
birth of the five girls theyalready had five other children
and so now they had 10.
Oh man.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Was his problem fathering children.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Obviously that was not his problem.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
No, I mean with like other people.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Oh no, it was all him and his wife.
Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay,yeah.
So it was because it was in themiddle of the Great Depression
and now they have 10 kids toraise.
Oh my gosh, yes, it's justcrazy.
So he was worried about themedical bills, the child care
costs, food, you know, justtaking care of everyone.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
He wasn't worried about that when he was feeling
frisky, no, was he Six times?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Even when she was pregnant, they didn't expect
that there was five.
They thought maybe that she wascarrying twins.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Because they're so tiny.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, they did not expect that there was five
babies.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
And they were the first ones ever.
So who would ever think that?
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Well, they were the first ones ever to survive.
They weren't the first onesever.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, I really should just mute myself.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I'm not smart tonight For the love of baby Moses, I
hope you do so rude, okay.
So this is where the story getsbad, okay.
So the dad, being worried aboutmoney, the century of progress
exhibit at the world's fair inchicago reached out to the
(10:30):
family and said hey, can we haveyour babies?
And their incubators showed ourexhibit.
And apparently it wasn'tunusual for quote unquote
incubator babies to be shown atfairs because the incubator was
such a new technology that theywanted to show off the actual
technology of the incubator.
(10:51):
But they actually had babies inthere.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
So like right next to the bearded lady.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Right, I don't know.
I mean, the exhibit was acentury of progress, so I think
they were trying to show likethe medical marvel of it.
But at the same time, come lookat these teeny, tiny babies
Right, struggling to surviveyeah, exactly, and traveling all
the way from Canada to Chicago.
Oh, come on.
So the dad signed a contractwith yep for the kids.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It's a typical Feb request, by the way.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Let me see your babies, oh Chicago.
So he signed the contract, buthe revoked it a couple days
later.
However, this caused somecontroversy, because the Red
Cross was now concerned of arethese parents going to exploit
(11:48):
these kids?
We want to make sure to helpthem out.
And because they were fivequintuplets, I almost said five
quintuplets I always say fivequintuplets and because they
were the first quintuplets.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
My smartness is rubbing off on you.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
They were a big deal.
So the Red Cross stepped in.
And the Red Cross said hey, wewill take care of your kids for
two years.
We'll pay for all the medicalcosts, and they also want to
protect them from this contract.
So the parents agreed, becauseof the amount of medical costs
and their financial status, tolet the Red Cross take over
(12:31):
ownership guardianship.
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Are they taking them somewhere?
Where are they going?
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I'm getting kids of that.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, so that was in 1934.
So this is when the girls wereso young, in February of 1935.
So they're not even a year oldyet.
Even a year old yet, theparents went to Chicago as a
(12:58):
quote, unquote, parents of theworld famous babies, because
these babies were absolutelyworld famous and they started
making stage appearances.
So the premier of Ontario,which is some political position
, I'm not quite sure what itequates to in the US.
I didn't do that research.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
It wasn't like prime minister, premier it says
premier?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, premier, he used this trip to extend the
guardianship and then he passeda law called the Dionne's
Quintuplets Act of 1935.
So the act is named after thequintuplets, not very specific.
I know right, how many kids canwe apply this to?
(13:40):
So the acts actually made thegirls wards of the crown until
they were 18.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
What?
Yes, but in a way like it wouldmake sure that they're taken
care of.
It would.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Okay, but I mean, is that a good enough reason to
take away guardianship fromparents?
I don't know, it's verycontroversial, okay, so there
was actually a board ofguardians, and on the board of
guardians it was the doctor whodelivered them, dr Defoe.
There was a judge His name wasJoseph Ballin, the minister of
(14:17):
welfare at the moment who wasDavid Kroll, and then I saw
conflicting information.
One said that it was the girl'sgrandpa that was on the board,
and then the other one said thatit was actually the dad that
was also part of the board.
(14:38):
But, a family member nonetheless.
Yeah, so I think it was agrandpa until he may have passed
away and then the dad took over, I think I don't know.
It's just I couldn't get astraight answer.
There's just too many back andforth with it.
I did find that the dadactually didn't partake much
into the board matters,supposedly because he felt his
vote wouldn't matter and also todispute the fact that the Crown
(15:01):
had guardianship of hischildren.
So the board met once a monthand they had full control over
all business matters for thegirls, which meant caring for
them, managing their money,creating contracts which were
done of movies and commercials.
Oh, I was just about to ask whatcontracts and the government
(15:22):
actually created a touristindustry around the girls?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yes, and then the government gets all the money.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, it's supposed to go into a trust fund.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And this trust fund is supposed to be just for the
girls and it's supposed to befor them when they grow up, and
that the money that is used totake care of them is supposed to
come from the Red Cross and thegovernment already.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Mm-hmm.
Okay, so the kids were born ona farmhouse and across the
street from the farmhouse theyactually built the Defoe
Hospital and Nursery where thegirls lived.
So it was across from theirfarmhouse.
See, a hospital.
Yes, yes, but they moved therein 1934.
(16:09):
It was dubbed Quintlandeventually.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh my gosh, did they have like vendors and stuff?
It was dubbed Quintlandeventually.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Oh my gosh, Did they have like vendors and stuff?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Stop, and listen.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Okay, okay, so they moved in.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Food trucks.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
They didn't have food trucks back then.
I know, Farmer's market.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Maybe they actually probably really did have
farmer's markets.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Probably so.
They moved there in 1934 whenthe Red Cross decided to take
over, and the girls lived thereuntil they were nine years old.
It had a pool and an outdoorplayground, but it was
surrounded by a viewing area forthe public which had one-way
screens to minimize noise anddistractions.
(16:54):
So they're like an exhibit.
Mm-hmm.
The girls were brought to theplayground two or three times a
day to be viewed by the publicand the whole entire compound.
Because the staff lived theretoo, it was surrounded by a
seven-foot barbed wire fence.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Oh my gosh, Did they get to see their siblings?
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I'm going to get to that part?
Oh my gosh, not until they lefttheir Quint land.
Yeah, I think they met them,but they didn't engage.
That's awful.
I'll get to their siblings in asecond.
Okay, so their day consisted ofthis they dressed together in a
big bathroom, they drank orangejuice and cod liver oil, and
(17:34):
then they had their hair curled.
They said a prayer, a gongsounded, they ate breakfast in
the dining room.
30 minutes later they clearedthe table, then they played in
the sunroom for 30 minutes, tooka 15 minute break and at nine
o'clock, had their morninginspection with dr defoe.
Not sure what that entails, I'mnot, I don't know.
Um, every month they had adifferent timetable of
(17:55):
activities.
They bathed every day beforedinner, put on their pajamas and
then ate dinner, which wasserved precisely at 6 pm, and
then they went into the quietplayroom to say their prayers.
Each girl had a color and asymbol to mark whatever belonged
to her.
So instead of knowing the girlsand making sure that they knew
(18:15):
which girl was which, they hadcolored ponytails, colors and
animals.
So they're just objects.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
So I know that education for women and girls
was a really big thing back then.
Was there any kind of school oreducation or teaching them
anything?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
they, they did, it did say that they attended
school there.
It didn't say what they learned,though but they're probably
like embroidery orcross-stitching or something
their education does come intoplay, because I think it's in
their adult part that I talkabout, because when they were 18
and they were out on their own,they didn't know the difference
between a nickel and a quarter.
Oh my God, okay, yeah.
(18:58):
So the girls and the colorsAnnette's color was red and her
design was a maple leaf.
Cecile was green and her signwas a turkey.
Emily had white and a tulip,marie was blue and a teddy bear
and Yvonne was pink and abluebird and a teddy bear and
(19:18):
Yvonne was pink and a bluebird.
So, finally, the doctor wasviewed as being taken advantage
of his new fame.
He spent a lot of money.
He removed one of the threeprimary caretakers of the
quintuplets that lived atQuintland with him, and this
removal involved only their dad,as he took legal action to
regain custody.
So the general public did notknow that the doctor profited
(19:43):
$182,466 in 1943.
What?
Which is the equivalent of over$3 million in 2023.
Oh my God, yeah, he profitedover $3 million off these babies
.
So when the visits firststarted, the people could watch
(20:06):
them through a window in thehospital, and then the hospital
realized that this wasn't goodfor the girls, because they got
so excited when the visitorscame and they got irritated when
they left, because they wantedto play with them and interact
with them because it's you know,it's something different, and
so telling the visitors to maketo not make loud noises wasn't
enough to stop them.
So that's how they decided.
(20:29):
I'm so grossed out.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
They're probably like tapping on the window.
You know how people do at thezoo.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah or aquariums yep , exactly, oh my gosh.
So they, um, I think I saidthis.
They were displayed, displayedfour times a day.
I did quote unquote, sorry,y'all couldn't see that, so they
could, if we were doing videostop.
so the observatory, which is thethis enclosed area enclosed
area to look at everyone and notjust through the window of the
(20:56):
hospital opened on Canada Day in1936.
Thousands of tourists came tosee the daughters, the sisters,
and hundreds of cars came in.
They were told to be quiet, notto speak to the girls, continue
moving to avoid blockages andif the weather was bad, the
girls would not be shown, quoteunquote, and no photographs were
(21:18):
allowed.
The girls were known that theywere watched because they could
hear screams and laughter.
The one-way screens didn'tfully block out the visitors and
it said it acted more like afrosted glass, so like you could
see a shape behind it.
You know the noise.
Approximately 3,000 people perday visited the observation
(21:39):
gallery that surrounded the3,000.
3,000.
In 1934.
Well, this is probably no 1936.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
To view the playground.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yes, almost 3 million people walked through between
1936 and 1943.
Their dad set up a souvenirshop.
The souvenirs had pictures ofthe five sisters, autographs,
framed photographs, spoons, cups, plates, plaques, candy bars,
books, postcards and dolls.
(22:10):
The dolls of the five girlseven outsold whatever doll was
popular back in that day.
I can't remember what it was, Ididn't write it down.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Did the mom and dad get to interact with them
routinely?
Speaker 1 (22:24):
They could, they were allowed to go over there, but
they did not go over thereconsistently.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
I mean, I know they have five other kids too.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Gosh.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
So another thing that they had, which was free for
the public and it was placed inbins, were stones from the area
that were claimed to have themagical power of fertility, and
it would say that the bins hadto be refilled almost every
single day, and there was womenwho would go up to their mom and
(22:57):
touch the mom in hopes that thefertility her fertility would
rub off on them.
I think the dad kind of didsomething like to exploit that
as well.
So quintland became ontario'sbiggest tour attraction of the
area, surpassing the Canadianside of Niagara Falls.
It was only beat by like threethings in North America and even
(23:24):
several Hollywood stars visitedQuintland.
So the nursery was eventuallyconverted.
So the girls moved up fromthere at nine, like I said, and
the nursery was eventuallyconverted into an accredited
school where the sistersfinished their secondary
education along with 10 RomanCatholic girls from the area who
were chosen to attend Lateryears.
(23:44):
The hospital was used by therecluses of Corbeil as a convent
.
So other things that thesisters were advertised with,
along with Dr Defoe they wereused for commercial products
including carob, corn syrup,quaker oats, lysol, palm oil,
(24:06):
palm, olive Palm olive, it's thedish soap.
Yeah, it is.
I don't know why I couldn't saythat right.
Colgate, aluminum goodsmanufacturing Company, behab,
corn Syrup, canada StarchCompany, carnation Milk, colgate
, palmolive Peak Company, whichmakes sense, corn Products,
(24:27):
refining and Crown Brand CornSyrup and Baby Ruth.
They also promote the sales ofcondensed milk, toothpaste,
disinfectant, candy bars andmany other products.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So pretty much everything on the market.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Yeah, when they were children and this money was
supposed to be going to theirtrust fund.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Supposed to be.
Are you getting to that?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I am eventually.
So I said they left thehospital when they were nine and
by 1939, defoe no, I think theyactually got custody back
before that Sorry, I got my earsmixed up.
The doctor resigned as aguardian and the dad was gaining
more support to have his familyreunited, and so finally they
(25:09):
were able to regain custody.
The Catholic Church and theFrench-speaking communities in
both Quebec and Ontariopressured the government to give
the dad custody back.
So the pressure stemmed fromthe fact that the parents had
never agreed to the removal ofthe quintuplets from their
custody.
So they used public opinion alot.
(25:30):
Oh no, it was nine years.
So finally, in 1943, they wereable to get custody and they
succeeded after Dr Defoe retired.
Ok, this is what comes to theirsiblings.
So siblings usually team upagainst their parents, right,
Like that's just what we do,right?
So, unfortunately, theirsiblings felt like strangers.
(25:52):
They distanced themselves fromthe children because they hadn't
seen each other in nine years.
They struggled to connect, andthen also the quintuplets spoke
French, which was the nurseryrules, and all their siblings
spoke English.
So that's yes.
And so the parents also treatedthem differently at home.
(26:15):
They treated them as one personand five different bodies
instead of five different littlegirls.
And, yes, they often lecturedthem about the trouble they were
causing the family by justexisting.
No Uh-huh.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Okay, take them back.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I know, I know that's so awful, absolutely awful.
The girls said that they werephysically abused by the hands
of their mother and they wereunaware.
So, oh my gosh, I can't believe.
I left this part out.
So they don't live in thefarmhouse anymore.
The family doesn't.
They literally built a mansionfor the family to live in.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I don't think I wrote down what their house was like
Did they build that because thegirls were coming home, or that
was before?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
It was built because the girls were coming home, or
that was before it was built,because the girls were coming
home A little extra, though, andso they didn't know that their
house, the food, the series ofcars the family were purchasing
were paid for by the money thegirls had earned, and they
called their time in the bighouse quote unquote the saddest
(27:24):
home we ever knew.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Oh my gosh, they went from being an exhibit to the
saddest home they ever knew,mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
And then their dad.
Their dad kind of got a littlecrazy.
He was resentful and suspiciousof outsiders, he said, because
he lost custody of the girls.
And so in 1995, the threesurviving sisters at that time
reported that their dad hadsexually abused them during
their teenage years.
You could see one of thedaughters that would constantly
(27:54):
wear a turtleneck and she saidthat she dressed to be as modest
as possible and not show partsof her body.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Wait, how old were they at this time?
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Well, yvonne told a story about when she was 13.
She felt pressured to undressin front of her dad.
Her dad rubbed this linimentall over her and then he told
Emily that he was going to haveto apply it to her too.
They didn't like going on carrides with their dad and felt
the need to dress extraconservatively on these car
(28:24):
rides.
During the car rides, the girlswere squished up front with
their dad as the backseats wereout, and he allegedly French
kissed them and put his fingerson their blouses.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Oh my.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
God.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Just awful, Awful, awful, awful.
So they, when they turned 18,they all decided that they
wanted to get out of the house,and I think I don't have that
part.
I think it was Emily thatdecided to leave first.
I can't remember, but onedecided to leave first and
slowly the rest of them followed.
(29:03):
Three of them got married andhad children.
One of them joined a conventand then the other one, I think
she, became a librarian.
So the money in their trustfund decreased through spending
on marriage houses, childsupport and divorce.
The ones that got married alsogot divorced.
It was discovered that theirtrust fund contained less money
(29:23):
than what was made fromadvertisements and photographs
and instead of the governmentpaying for research, food and
travel expenses forphotographers and filmmakers,
the payment came from thequintuplets trust fund.
The government, the governmentdid that.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Oh Well, you knew that was going to happen.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yes, the girls were able to go against the
government, and the governmentresponded like, hey, we'll give
you $2,000 a month.
And there was a huge uproar oflike how is that even fair
$2,000 a month?
Because the girls were livingon $7734 a month living all
together.
And so, finally, with thepublic opinion up in arms, I
(30:08):
think they settled on $4 millionfor the girls to have from the
government.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
So $4 million split between five, when the doctor
made three million.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Yeah, okay.
So one of the great thingsabout being identical
quintuplets is that they alwayshave their sisters by their side
, no matter what.
When they moved to Montreal,yvonne and Cecile went to
nursing school together, andAnnette and Marie became
roommates at the university, andso, yeah, so Emily went to the
(30:43):
convent.
Emily died at age 20 as aresult of a seizure.
She had had seizures before,but she asked at the convent she
wasn't supposed to be leftalone.
Well, one of the sisters thatwas with her went to mass and
left her alone, and during thatshe fell over onto her pillow
and suffocated to the seizure,oh my gosh, very, very, very sad
(31:05):
.
In 1973, marie was living alonein an apartment and her sisters
were worried about her.
After not hearing from her forseveral days, the doctor went to
the home and found her in bedand she'd been dead for a couple
of days and she had a bloodclot found on her brain.
How old was she?
It was 1970.
(31:26):
, so they were born in 34.
What?
35, 40,?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
late 30s.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Yeah, late 30s.
Yvonne was alive, I think.
She just passed away in like1998.
She lived for a while.
Annette and Cecile still livetogether.
Yes, as of May of this yearthey are 91 years old and they
are living together outside ofMontreal.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
You've got to be kidding me.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah, isn't that amazing?
That is crazy.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, I love that.
It's not like it's sad, but thesisters that's why my quote was
sisters function as safety netsin a chaotic world, simply by
being there for each other Ilove that, yeah, it's.
I had never heard story, but itwas such a big deal in the
(32:20):
1930s and like we're got out of.
There was people I was readingstories about people from
Australia coming to visit themand then there was a lady from I
think she was from Ohio thatwanted to go back and be the
home because she'd always wantedto see inside the nursery,
because she went to go visit itwhen she was a little girl and
(32:40):
she actually got kicked out ofthe observatory because she was
throwing a tantrum because shewanted to go in and go play with
the little girls that wereplaying and they the monitors or
however made her leave.
So she went back when she wasan older lady, sweet girl.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
I know, okay, so all right, episode one back on track
, sister.
I mean, I don't know whatepisode this actually really is.
But yeah, sisters, we're goingto do this, not every week, heck
, no, our goal is every otherweek, and I think we said that
(33:22):
maybe last September, when werecorded one episode and that
was it, and nothing happened.
We're really bad with tellingtime and it feels like it's been
what we meant was every otheryear.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
We'll try to stick to it.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Our goal is every other week, so we will be back
in two weeks.
Yeah, with another sister storyanother sister situation
another sister situation A-S-S.
A-s-s.
Alright, is that it Bye?
Oh wait, bees.
(34:05):
Do we do that still?
Was that annoying?
I don't know, it was hard tothink of stuff.
It was kind of funny, but itmight be annoying.
Okay, I'll go first.
We're doing it.
Oh no, okay.
Be a sister Be, oh no, okay.
Be a sister Be, oh no.
(34:25):
Be a good parent oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Don't be taking advantage of sweet little babies
.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Don't be giving your money to the government.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Stop paying your taxes, everybody.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Stop paying your taxes.
That's Jessica.
That's Jessica.
I'd like to clarify that asJessica.
All right, thanks for joiningus.
Thank you, and we will fumblethrough this again in two weeks.
Bye Bye, in two weeks.
Bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
If you'd like to reach out to us or submit your
situation, please contact us atanother situation podcast at
gmailcom, or find us onInstagram at another situation
podcast.
We're also on Facebook atanother situation.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Another situation is produced and edited by Point 5.
Pinoy Music is produced andedited by Point5Pinoy Music is
written and performed by TimCrow.
Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world
simply by being there for eachother.
Carol Selene.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well, hello and welcome back Hiya sister.
Hiya sister and those well,maybe no one's listening anymore
.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
So welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome back.
Welcome to happy.
What what I was typing?
I don't know what I was typingin.
I started typing in happy and Isaid it out loud.
That makes no sense.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Did you mean to be tapping, not tapping?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
happy, no Tap tap, tap it in.
I was looking up Sister's Daybecause I was going to mention
what day that actually was.
Oh yes, sunday August 3rd.
This is coming out.
Obviously you know it's notSunday August 3rd.
This is coming out, obviously,you know it's not Sunday August
3rd as you're listening.
But we decided to make ourcomeback around Sister's Day,
(01:15):
sisters, so you're welcome andwelcome, and thank you.
Okay, let's not drag this out.
Nobody wants to listen to thistoo much.
Okay, and jessica has a storyfor us.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yes, yes, I do.
It is um kind of sad and kindof not sad.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
This is this is what jessica does.
I, in case you need a reminder.
Jessica cries.
I'm not going to cry this timeand if she's not crying, she
wants all of the rest of us tocry, and it doesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So this is a story that I had never heard of,
though, of a pair of quintupletsfrom Canada which were all the
rage.
That's weird to say they were.
A lot of people knew about themback in the 1900s, which just
made me feel really old sayingthat.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Okay, Wait, what now?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
A lot of people what now Knew about them in the 1900s
.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Why did that make you feel old?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Say 1900?
Because we were born in the1900s.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, not like 1900.
Obviously Just in case any ofyou needed clarification on that
.
But still, why would that makeyou feel old?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I don't know, it just did.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Can I tell my story now?
26-year-olds were born in the1900s.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
May I tell my story?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
please.
Is 26 old.
No, you should say no becauseyou're twice that.
Anyway, carry on.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
This story is about the Dion Quintuplets and I may
not be saying that name right?
I tried to look forpronunciations, pronunciations,
but I how do you?
Spell it D-I-O-N-N-E.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Dion.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Dion Dion.
What did you say?
Dion, diony D-O-N-A.
Oh gosh, okay, ready.
Five identical girls were bornon May 28, 1934, in the village
of Corbeil, ontario, that's, inCanada.
(03:27):
Their names in order of birth—Do we?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
know how common like multi-births were.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I'm going to get to that oh okay, okay, sorry, you
know it's me.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
That's what—you cry, I jump ahead.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Oh my gosh, I know that's what you cry.
I jump ahead.
Oh my gosh, I know.
Their names and order of birthwere Yvonne, annette, cecile,
emily and Marie.
The girls were born two monthsprematurely and collectively
they weighed less than 14 poundsand were reported to be small
enough to be held in one handNot all five of them, but like
(04:03):
one in one hand.
My goodness, I know they werenot expected to survive and were
the first quintuplets in theworld known to have survived.
First quintuplets yes, yes, yes, yes, wow, isn't that crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Well, it's crazy that there was a.
Did their mom survive?
Yes, are you?
She did yes.
Oh, will you let me tell thestory.
I'm sorry, okay, yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Dr Alan Ray Defoe delivered, and he also had two
midwives.
It was just listed as AuntDonalda, so I don't know her
last name.
It's just Aunt Donalda, AuntDonalda, donalda.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Dion.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Maybe, I don't know if it was their aunt.
Oh, okay, yeah, and MadameBenoit Lebel, benoit B-N-O-I-T.
Anyways, about the girls, it'sFrench Benoit.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Benoit, benoit.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
B-N-O-I-T.
Anyways, about the girls, it'sFrench Benoit.
Benoit, emily and Marie sharedan amniotic sac, annette and
Yvonne shared an amniotic sacand it's suspected that Cecile
shared one with a child that wasmiscarried around week 12.
Because the mom reported thatshe passed something around week
12.
And they think that that wouldhave was the baby sister the
(05:29):
baby with Cecile hold on onesecond.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Is your microphone on ?
Yeah, is your microphone on themicrophone settings?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
yeah okay, okay so their mom's name was Elzire.
Yeah, okay, okay.
So their mom's name was Elzireand that's it, period.
Their mom's name was Elzire.
I typoed, I'm sorry it threw meoff.
(06:01):
So the girls were fed, quoteunquote 70-20 formula, which is
cow's milk, boiled water, twospoonfuls spoons full of corn
syrup and one or two drops ofrum.
So that's what the girls werefed.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Well, hey, mm-hmm, I bet they slept, well too 1934.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So word got out after their dad's name is Oliva I'm
probably pronouncing that wrongtoo.
Word got out after the dad'sbrother asked the local paper
how much it would cost to run anannouncement for five babies at
a single birth.
So after he went that to thepaper like word spread
everywhere, that's really cute,though that's what he's asking.
(06:48):
I thought so too.
So after the word spread,people were donating incubators
because what they had done isthey had the like hot water
bottles all over and becausethey didn't have incubators and
they had to keep the girls warmand they were teeny, teeny tiny.
So people donated incubatorsthat did not run electricity
because the family home didn'thave any.
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Finish.
No, finish the thought Sorry.
Okay, and women, you're soannoyed.
See, that's good, we don't havea video.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
And women all over the US, canada and I think some
even came from overseas, sent inbreast milk and were paid 10
cents an ounce, which alsohelped supplement their income,
because 1934, Great Depressionwas, you know yeah, oh gosh,
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So my question, sorry , Did it say like when they were
allowed to go home or how longthey had to stay in the hospital
or no?
Were they home birthed?
They were home birthed, it's 19.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I'm so sorry, hold on , I'll catch up.
Just give me a second.
Oh, my God so there, it's beena long day, okay, stop talking.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's a podcast.
A train, a train.
Could you?
Would you on a train?
A train with 28 ounces ofbreast milk?
Was delivered every morning forthe girls, which doesn't sound
like a lot, but they were soteeny, tiny, all five of them.
(08:23):
This is crazy, this iscraziness.
So they actually went down andbroke down.
They only had estimates for howmuch each girl weighed because
they didn't keep track of that,but I mean five girls less than
14 pounds, that's less thanthree pounds.
Like it's so tiny, they're justso tiny.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Oh, so cute there are .
Life Magazine actually has thiswonderful picture spread.
We'll put the link in the shownotes because the pictures are
copyrighted, I can't share themourselves, but oh my gosh,
they're just adorable.
Okay, so this is where it getsa little icky.
So the girl's father, olivaDion he had a problem Before the
(09:08):
birth of the five girls theyalready had five other children
and so now they had 10.
Oh man.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Was his problem fathering children.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Obviously that was not his problem.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
No, I mean with like other people.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Oh no, it was all him and his wife.
Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay,yeah.
So it was because it was in themiddle of the Great Depression
and now they have 10 kids toraise.
Oh my gosh, yes, it's justcrazy.
So he was worried about themedical bills, the child care
costs, food, you know, justtaking care of everyone.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
He wasn't worried about that when he was feeling
frisky, no, was he Six times?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Even when she was pregnant, they didn't expect
that there was five.
They thought maybe that she wascarrying twins.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Because they're so tiny.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, they did not expect that there was five
babies.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
And they were the first ones ever.
So who would ever think that?
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Well, they were the first ones ever to survive.
They weren't the first onesever.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, I really should just mute myself.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I'm not smart tonight For the love of baby Moses, I
hope you do so rude, okay.
So this is where the story getsbad, okay.
So the dad, being worried aboutmoney, the century of progress
exhibit at the world's fair inchicago reached out to the
(10:30):
family and said hey, can we haveyour babies?
And their incubators showed ourexhibit.
And apparently it wasn'tunusual for quote unquote
incubator babies to be shown atfairs because the incubator was
such a new technology that theywanted to show off the actual
technology of the incubator.
(10:51):
But they actually had babies inthere.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
So like right next to the bearded lady.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Right, I don't know.
I mean, the exhibit was acentury of progress, so I think
they were trying to show likethe medical marvel of it.
But at the same time, come lookat these teeny, tiny babies
Right, struggling to surviveyeah, exactly, and traveling all
the way from Canada to Chicago.
Oh, come on.
So the dad signed a contractwith yep for the kids.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It's a typical Feb request, by the way.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Let me see your babies, oh Chicago.
So he signed the contract, buthe revoked it a couple days
later.
However, this caused somecontroversy, because the Red
Cross was now concerned of arethese parents going to exploit
(11:48):
these kids?
We want to make sure to helpthem out.
And because they were fivequintuplets, I almost said five
quintuplets I always say fivequintuplets and because they
were the first quintuplets.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
My smartness is rubbing off on you.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
They were a big deal.
So the Red Cross stepped in.
And the Red Cross said hey, wewill take care of your kids for
two years.
We'll pay for all the medicalcosts, and they also want to
protect them from this contract.
So the parents agreed, becauseof the amount of medical costs
and their financial status, tolet the Red Cross take over
(12:31):
ownership guardianship.
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Are they taking them somewhere?
Where are they going?
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I'm getting kids of that.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, so that was in 1934.
So this is when the girls wereso young, in February of 1935.
So they're not even a year oldyet.
Even a year old yet, theparents went to Chicago as a
(12:58):
quote, unquote, parents of theworld famous babies, because
these babies were absolutelyworld famous and they started
making stage appearances.
So the premier of Ontario,which is some political position
, I'm not quite sure what itequates to in the US.
I didn't do that research.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
It wasn't like prime minister, premier it says
premier?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, premier, he used this trip to extend the
guardianship and then he passeda law called the Dionne's
Quintuplets Act of 1935.
So the act is named after thequintuplets, not very specific.
I know right, how many kids canwe apply this to?
(13:40):
So the acts actually made thegirls wards of the crown until
they were 18.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
What?
Yes, but in a way like it wouldmake sure that they're taken
care of.
It would.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Okay, but I mean, is that a good enough reason to
take away guardianship fromparents?
I don't know, it's verycontroversial, okay, so there
was actually a board ofguardians, and on the board of
guardians it was the doctor whodelivered them, dr Defoe.
There was a judge His name wasJoseph Ballin, the minister of
(14:17):
welfare at the moment who wasDavid Kroll, and then I saw
conflicting information.
One said that it was the girl'sgrandpa that was on the board,
and then the other one said thatit was actually the dad that
was also part of the board.
(14:38):
But, a family member nonetheless.
Yeah, so I think it was agrandpa until he may have passed
away and then the dad took over, I think I don't know.
It's just I couldn't get astraight answer.
There's just too many back andforth with it.
I did find that the dadactually didn't partake much
into the board matters,supposedly because he felt his
vote wouldn't matter and also todispute the fact that the Crown
(15:01):
had guardianship of hischildren.
So the board met once a monthand they had full control over
all business matters for thegirls, which meant caring for
them, managing their money,creating contracts which were
done of movies and commercials.
Oh, I was just about to ask whatcontracts and the government
(15:22):
actually created a touristindustry around the girls?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yes, and then the government gets all the money.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, it's supposed to go into a trust fund.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And this trust fund is supposed to be just for the
girls and it's supposed to befor them when they grow up, and
that the money that is used totake care of them is supposed to
come from the Red Cross and thegovernment already.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Mm-hmm.
Okay, so the kids were born ona farmhouse and across the
street from the farmhouse theyactually built the Defoe
Hospital and Nursery where thegirls lived.
So it was across from theirfarmhouse.
See, a hospital.
Yes, yes, but they moved therein 1934.
(16:09):
It was dubbed Quintlandeventually.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh my gosh, did they have like vendors and stuff?
It was dubbed Quintlandeventually.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Oh my gosh, Did they have like vendors and stuff?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Stop, and listen.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Okay, okay, so they moved in.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Food trucks.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
They didn't have food trucks back then.
I know, Farmer's market.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Maybe they actually probably really did have
farmer's markets.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Probably so.
They moved there in 1934 whenthe Red Cross decided to take
over, and the girls lived thereuntil they were nine years old.
It had a pool and an outdoorplayground, but it was
surrounded by a viewing area forthe public which had one-way
screens to minimize noise anddistractions.
(16:54):
So they're like an exhibit.
Mm-hmm.
The girls were brought to theplayground two or three times a
day to be viewed by the publicand the whole entire compound.
Because the staff lived theretoo, it was surrounded by a
seven-foot barbed wire fence.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Oh my gosh, Did they get to see their siblings?
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I'm going to get to that part?
Oh my gosh, not until they lefttheir Quint land.
Yeah, I think they met them,but they didn't engage.
That's awful.
I'll get to their siblings in asecond.
Okay, so their day consisted ofthis they dressed together in a
big bathroom, they drank orangejuice and cod liver oil, and
(17:34):
then they had their hair curled.
They said a prayer, a gongsounded, they ate breakfast in
the dining room.
30 minutes later they clearedthe table, then they played in
the sunroom for 30 minutes, tooka 15 minute break and at nine
o'clock, had their morninginspection with dr defoe.
Not sure what that entails, I'mnot, I don't know.
Um, every month they had adifferent timetable of
(17:55):
activities.
They bathed every day beforedinner, put on their pajamas and
then ate dinner, which wasserved precisely at 6 pm, and
then they went into the quietplayroom to say their prayers.
Each girl had a color and asymbol to mark whatever belonged
to her.
So instead of knowing the girlsand making sure that they knew
(18:15):
which girl was which, they hadcolored ponytails, colors and
animals.
So they're just objects.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
So I know that education for women and girls
was a really big thing back then.
Was there any kind of school oreducation or teaching them
anything?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
they, they did, it did say that they attended
school there.
It didn't say what they learned,though but they're probably
like embroidery orcross-stitching or something
their education does come intoplay, because I think it's in
their adult part that I talkabout, because when they were 18
and they were out on their own,they didn't know the difference
between a nickel and a quarter.
Oh my God, okay, yeah.
(18:58):
So the girls and the colorsAnnette's color was red and her
design was a maple leaf.
Cecile was green and her signwas a turkey.
Emily had white and a tulip,marie was blue and a teddy bear
and Yvonne was pink and abluebird and a teddy bear and
(19:18):
Yvonne was pink and a bluebird.
So, finally, the doctor wasviewed as being taken advantage
of his new fame.
He spent a lot of money.
He removed one of the threeprimary caretakers of the
quintuplets that lived atQuintland with him, and this
removal involved only their dad,as he took legal action to
regain custody.
So the general public did notknow that the doctor profited
(19:43):
$182,466 in 1943.
What?
Which is the equivalent of over$3 million in 2023.
Oh my God, yeah, he profitedover $3 million off these babies
.
So when the visits firststarted, the people could watch
(20:06):
them through a window in thehospital, and then the hospital
realized that this wasn't goodfor the girls, because they got
so excited when the visitorscame and they got irritated when
they left, because they wantedto play with them and interact
with them because it's you know,it's something different, and
so telling the visitors to maketo not make loud noises wasn't
enough to stop them.
So that's how they decided.
(20:29):
I'm so grossed out.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
They're probably like tapping on the window.
You know how people do at thezoo.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah or aquariums yep , exactly, oh my gosh.
So they, um, I think I saidthis.
They were displayed, displayedfour times a day.
I did quote unquote, sorry,y'all couldn't see that, so they
could, if we were doing videostop.
so the observatory, which is thethis enclosed area enclosed
area to look at everyone and notjust through the window of the
(20:56):
hospital opened on Canada Day in1936.
Thousands of tourists came tosee the daughters, the sisters,
and hundreds of cars came in.
They were told to be quiet, notto speak to the girls, continue
moving to avoid blockages andif the weather was bad, the
girls would not be shown, quoteunquote, and no photographs were
(21:18):
allowed.
The girls were known that theywere watched because they could
hear screams and laughter.
The one-way screens didn'tfully block out the visitors and
it said it acted more like afrosted glass, so like you could
see a shape behind it.
You know the noise.
Approximately 3,000 people perday visited the observation
(21:39):
gallery that surrounded the3,000.
3,000.
In 1934.
Well, this is probably no 1936.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
To view the playground.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yes, almost 3 million people walked through between
1936 and 1943.
Their dad set up a souvenirshop.
The souvenirs had pictures ofthe five sisters, autographs,
framed photographs, spoons, cups, plates, plaques, candy bars,
books, postcards and dolls.
(22:10):
The dolls of the five girlseven outsold whatever doll was
popular back in that day.
I can't remember what it was, Ididn't write it down.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Did the mom and dad get to interact with them
routinely?
Speaker 1 (22:24):
They could, they were allowed to go over there, but
they did not go over thereconsistently.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
I mean, I know they have five other kids too.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Gosh.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
So another thing that they had, which was free for
the public and it was placed inbins, were stones from the area
that were claimed to have themagical power of fertility, and
it would say that the bins hadto be refilled almost every
single day, and there was womenwho would go up to their mom and
(22:57):
touch the mom in hopes that thefertility her fertility would
rub off on them.
I think the dad kind of didsomething like to exploit that
as well.
So quintland became ontario'sbiggest tour attraction of the
area, surpassing the Canadianside of Niagara Falls.
It was only beat by like threethings in North America and even
(23:24):
several Hollywood stars visitedQuintland.
So the nursery was eventuallyconverted.
So the girls moved up fromthere at nine, like I said, and
the nursery was eventuallyconverted into an accredited
school where the sistersfinished their secondary
education along with 10 RomanCatholic girls from the area who
were chosen to attend Lateryears.
(23:44):
The hospital was used by therecluses of Corbeil as a convent
.
So other things that thesisters were advertised with,
along with Dr Defoe they wereused for commercial products
including carob, corn syrup,quaker oats, lysol, palm oil,
(24:06):
palm, olive Palm olive, it's thedish soap.
Yeah, it is.
I don't know why I couldn't saythat right.
Colgate, aluminum goodsmanufacturing Company, behab,
corn Syrup, canada StarchCompany, carnation Milk, colgate
, palmolive Peak Company, whichmakes sense, corn Products,
(24:27):
refining and Crown Brand CornSyrup and Baby Ruth.
They also promote the sales ofcondensed milk, toothpaste,
disinfectant, candy bars andmany other products.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So pretty much everything on the market.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Yeah, when they were children and this money was
supposed to be going to theirtrust fund.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Supposed to be.
Are you getting to that?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I am eventually.
So I said they left thehospital when they were nine and
by 1939, defoe no, I think theyactually got custody back
before that Sorry, I got my earsmixed up.
The doctor resigned as aguardian and the dad was gaining
more support to have his familyreunited, and so finally they
(25:09):
were able to regain custody.
The Catholic Church and theFrench-speaking communities in
both Quebec and Ontariopressured the government to give
the dad custody back.
So the pressure stemmed fromthe fact that the parents had
never agreed to the removal ofthe quintuplets from their
custody.
So they used public opinion alot.
(25:30):
Oh no, it was nine years.
So finally, in 1943, they wereable to get custody and they
succeeded after Dr Defoe retired.
Ok, this is what comes to theirsiblings.
So siblings usually team upagainst their parents, right,
Like that's just what we do,right?
So, unfortunately, theirsiblings felt like strangers.
(25:52):
They distanced themselves fromthe children because they hadn't
seen each other in nine years.
They struggled to connect, andthen also the quintuplets spoke
French, which was the nurseryrules, and all their siblings
spoke English.
So that's yes.
And so the parents also treatedthem differently at home.
(26:15):
They treated them as one personand five different bodies
instead of five different littlegirls.
And, yes, they often lecturedthem about the trouble they were
causing the family by justexisting.
No Uh-huh.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Okay, take them back.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I know, I know that's so awful, absolutely awful.
The girls said that they werephysically abused by the hands
of their mother and they wereunaware.
So, oh my gosh, I can't believe.
I left this part out.
So they don't live in thefarmhouse anymore.
The family doesn't.
They literally built a mansionfor the family to live in.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I don't think I wrote down what their house was like
Did they build that because thegirls were coming home, or that
was before?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
It was built because the girls were coming home, or
that was before it was built,because the girls were coming
home A little extra, though, andso they didn't know that their
house, the food, the series ofcars the family were purchasing
were paid for by the money thegirls had earned, and they
called their time in the bighouse quote unquote the saddest
(27:24):
home we ever knew.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Oh my gosh, they went from being an exhibit to the
saddest home they ever knew,mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
And then their dad.
Their dad kind of got a littlecrazy.
He was resentful and suspiciousof outsiders, he said, because
he lost custody of the girls.
And so in 1995, the threesurviving sisters at that time
reported that their dad hadsexually abused them during
their teenage years.
You could see one of thedaughters that would constantly
(27:54):
wear a turtleneck and she saidthat she dressed to be as modest
as possible and not show partsof her body.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Wait, how old were they at this time?
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Well, yvonne told a story about when she was 13.
She felt pressured to undressin front of her dad.
Her dad rubbed this linimentall over her and then he told
Emily that he was going to haveto apply it to her too.
They didn't like going on carrides with their dad and felt
the need to dress extraconservatively on these car
(28:24):
rides.
During the car rides, the girlswere squished up front with
their dad as the backseats wereout, and he allegedly French
kissed them and put his fingerson their blouses.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Oh my.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
God.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Just awful, Awful, awful, awful.
So they, when they turned 18,they all decided that they
wanted to get out of the house,and I think I don't have that
part.
I think it was Emily thatdecided to leave first.
I can't remember, but onedecided to leave first and
slowly the rest of them followed.
(29:03):
Three of them got married andhad children.
One of them joined a conventand then the other one, I think
she, became a librarian.
So the money in their trustfund decreased through spending
on marriage houses, childsupport and divorce.
The ones that got married alsogot divorced.
It was discovered that theirtrust fund contained less money
(29:23):
than what was made fromadvertisements and photographs
and instead of the governmentpaying for research, food and
travel expenses forphotographers and filmmakers,
the payment came from thequintuplets trust fund.
The government, the governmentdid that.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Oh Well, you knew that was going to happen.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yes, the girls were able to go against the
government, and the governmentresponded like, hey, we'll give
you $2,000 a month.
And there was a huge uproar oflike how is that even fair
$2,000 a month?
Because the girls were livingon $7734 a month living all
together.
And so, finally, with thepublic opinion up in arms, I
(30:08):
think they settled on $4 millionfor the girls to have from the
government.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
So $4 million split between five, when the doctor
made three million.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Yeah, okay.
So one of the great thingsabout being identical
quintuplets is that they alwayshave their sisters by their side
, no matter what.
When they moved to Montreal,yvonne and Cecile went to
nursing school together, andAnnette and Marie became
roommates at the university, andso, yeah, so Emily went to the
(30:43):
convent.
Emily died at age 20 as aresult of a seizure.
She had had seizures before,but she asked at the convent she
wasn't supposed to be leftalone.
Well, one of the sisters thatwas with her went to mass and
left her alone, and during thatshe fell over onto her pillow
and suffocated to the seizure,oh my gosh, very, very, very sad
(31:05):
.
In 1973, marie was living alonein an apartment and her sisters
were worried about her.
After not hearing from her forseveral days, the doctor went to
the home and found her in bedand she'd been dead for a couple
of days and she had a bloodclot found on her brain.
How old was she?
It was 1970.
(31:26):
, so they were born in 34.
What?
35, 40,?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
late 30s.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Yeah, late 30s.
Yvonne was alive, I think.
She just passed away in like1998.
She lived for a while.
Annette and Cecile still livetogether.
Yes, as of May of this yearthey are 91 years old and they
are living together outside ofMontreal.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
You've got to be kidding me.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah, isn't that amazing?
That is crazy.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, I love that.
It's not like it's sad, but thesisters that's why my quote was
sisters function as safety netsin a chaotic world, simply by
being there for each other Ilove that, yeah, it's.
I had never heard story, but itwas such a big deal in the
(32:20):
1930s and like we're got out of.
There was people I was readingstories about people from
Australia coming to visit themand then there was a lady from I
think she was from Ohio thatwanted to go back and be the
home because she'd always wantedto see inside the nursery,
because she went to go visit itwhen she was a little girl and
(32:40):
she actually got kicked out ofthe observatory because she was
throwing a tantrum because shewanted to go in and go play with
the little girls that wereplaying and they the monitors or
however made her leave.
So she went back when she wasan older lady, sweet girl.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
I know, okay, so all right, episode one back on track
, sister.
I mean, I don't know whatepisode this actually really is.
But yeah, sisters, we're goingto do this, not every week, heck
, no, our goal is every otherweek, and I think we said that
(33:22):
maybe last September, when werecorded one episode and that
was it, and nothing happened.
We're really bad with tellingtime and it feels like it's been
what we meant was every otheryear.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
We'll try to stick to it.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Our goal is every other week, so we will be back
in two weeks.
Yeah, with another sister storyanother sister situation
another sister situation A-S-S.
A-s-s.
Alright, is that it Bye?
Oh wait, bees.
(34:05):
Do we do that still?
Was that annoying?
I don't know, it was hard tothink of stuff.
It was kind of funny, but itmight be annoying.
Okay, I'll go first.
We're doing it.
Oh no, okay.
Be a sister Be, oh no, okay.
Be a sister Be, oh no.
(34:25):
Be a good parent oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Don't be taking advantage of sweet little babies
.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Don't be giving your money to the government.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Stop paying your taxes, everybody.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Stop paying your taxes.
That's Jessica.
That's Jessica.
I'd like to clarify that asJessica.
All right, thanks for joiningus.
Thank you, and we will fumblethrough this again in two weeks.
Bye Bye, in two weeks.
Bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
If you'd like to reach out to us or submit your
situation, please contact us atanother situation podcast at
gmailcom, or find us onInstagram at another situation
podcast.
We're also on Facebook atanother situation.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Another situation is produced and edited by Point 5.
Pinoy Music is produced andedited by Point5Pinoy Music is
written and performed by TimCrow.
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