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Dionne Quints & J&K+8

by Tracee Sioux on November 29th, 2007

I saw this documentary about the Dionne Quintuplets and thought there were some relevant similarities between them and one of Discovery’s reality shows, Jon & Kate plus 8.

According to The Free Dictionary:

The Dionne Sisters were born in 1934, and were the first quintuplets ever to survive their infancy. The odds were one in 57 million.

Two days after Annette Lillianne Marie, Cécile Marie Emilda, Emilie Marie Jeanne, Marie Reina Alma Dionne, and Yvonne Edouilda Marie were born in a Canadian village their father, Oliva, was approached by fair exhibitors.

Reluctantly, after speaking to his wife, Elzire, he signed a contract. Already the parents of five children, he made a deal with the Century of Progress Exposition, a World’s Fair being held in Chicago, to use the money to feed and clothe his family.

Public outcry over this apparent exploitation of Oliva and Elzire’s newborns led swiftly to widespead condemnation of the parents, particularly Oliva. Soon, the Ontario government interfered. The custody of the five babies was withdrawn from their parents by the Ontario government, originally for a guardianship of two years. Ironically, although the children were removed from their parents’ legal custody to protect them from exploitation and to ensure their survival into healthy toddlers, the government quickly realized the massive interest in Cecile, Annette, Marie, Yvonne, and Emilie, and proceeded to exploit them for financial gain. The girls were made the wards of the provincial crown until they reached the age of 18.

Across the road from their birthplace, the Dafoe Hospital and Nursery was built for only the five girls and their caregivers to live in. The observation gallery, where thousands of people watched from meshed screens as the children played twice a day, became part of “Quintland,” a theme-park like atmosphere showcasing and selling Quintuplet merchandise.

Approximately 6,000 people per day visited the observation gallery to view the Dionne sisters. Close to three million people walked through the gallery between 1936 and 1943^[2]. In 1934, the quintuplets brought in about $1 million, and they attracted in total about $51 million of tourist revenue to Ontario. Quintland became Ontario’s biggest tourist attraction of the era, at the time surpassing Niagara Falls.

It’s so much easier to indulge our voyeuristic impulses by watching Jon & Kate plus 8 from our own living rooms, don’t you think? 

Thanks TLC.

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