Submitted by the staff of the Orillia Museum of Art & History (OMAH)
In 1934, just two hours north of Orillia, the birth of five girls forever changed the world’s medical knowledge.
The Dionne quintuplets were born near Callander to Oliva and Elzire Dionne. Elzire had thought throughout her pregnancy that she was pregnant with twins, as, previously, there had only ever been twins recorded. People did not know triplets, quadruplets or quintuplets were possible. Nevertheless, on the morning of May 28, 1934, Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie and Marie were born.
News of the unusual birth spread, which led to a surge of support from all over North America. Donations even included incubators for the premature quintuplets. At the time, the sight of babies such as these was thought of as an oddity worthy of a sideshow attraction. So, in the first year of their lives, the girls were legally put in the care of the Red Cross, which eventually transferred them to be wards of the Province of Ontario. In doing so, their existence was used to build tourism in the area.
A hospital was built for the girls, across the street from the home in which they were born. Here, people were encouraged to come to view the girls, and the institution saw as many as 3,000 visitors a day. The girls’ likenesses were used on many items such as souvenirs, but also grocery items like corn syrup. Their image was used to promote the sale of many items during their childhood.
The child’s plate shown in the photo above dates to 1935 and has images of each quintuplet in a circle at the centre. On the outer rim of the plate are places for a small fork and a spoon with the words “‘I go here says’ the fork” and “‘I go here’ says the spoon.”
Next week, we will feature another object from the OMAH collection that showcases our local history.
