The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets
Page 28
“The first week…was a nightmare”: Dafoe, “The Dionne Quintuplets,” 676.
“like an orphan”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 64.
“a task for a giant”: Hunt, The Little Doc, 228.
“never was there a woman up here like Madame de Kiriline”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 70.
“We’ve got five babies out here”: Hunt, The Little Doc, 229.
“Go out and get order,” “No more was needed,” and “conscious only of a fleeting feeling”: Louise de Kiriline, “I Nursed the Quintuplets: Part One,” Chatelaine, July 1936.
“Are they really alive?”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 15, 1935.
“Pressed into the corner,” “upset beyond recognition,” “surgical cleanliness,” “a shining white sheet,” “the babies’ sanctuary,” and “their eventual survival”: de Kiriline, “I Nursed the Quintuplets: Part One.”
“arrogant taskmistress”: James Brough, “We Were Five,” McCall’s, December 1963.
“We gave Madame de Kiriline and Mademoiselle Leroux”: Lillian Barker, The Quints Have a Family (New York: Sheed & Ward: 1941), 137.
“chaos of the upset little home”: Louise de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year: The Survival of the Famous Five Dionne Babies and Its Significance for All Mothers (Toronto: Macmillan: 1936), 18.
“Boss Number One” and “Boss Number Two”: Brough, We Were Five, 42; Berton, The Dionne Years, 71.
“the only five-baby incubator in all the world”: “Baby Marie Grows Weaker Today in Incubator-Crib,” Toronto Star, June 2, 1934.
“They are a wonderful thing”: Leroux diary B, June 6, 1934.
“worse than seven funerals”: “Incubator Sent by Star Shelters 4 of Quintuplets.”
“I’ll say they need water”: Allyn, “Father of Five Babies, Doctor Split.”
“If all crocks were changed at the same time”: Louise de Kiriline, “I Nursed the Quintuplets: Part Two,” Chatelaine, August 1936.
“Just to keep those five ‘blue,’ choking little creatures”: Allan Roy Dafoe, “Quintuplets First Week Nightmare for Doctor,” Toronto Star, January 24, 1935.
CHAPTER 9
“It was one of the banner days,” “tiny roll of white,” and “This is Émilie”: Munro, 309.
“All of a sudden she opened her mouth and yawned”: Munro, 309–310.
“Émilie weighs one pound, thirteen ounces”: Munro, 310.
“The clothing was unwrapped,” “Even the nurse seemed disturbed,” “Marie, Marie,” and “Movement began in one of the arms”: Munro, 311.
“grieved over the loss of her doll-sized roommates”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 71.
“brute of a man”: Berton, The Dionne Years, 70.
“I’d be lost without a baby in my arms”: Lillian Barker, “The Most Unusual Mother I’ve Ever Known,” Extension, January 1955.
“a super-death-fighting laboratory”: De Kruif, 278.
“Holy of Holies”: de Kiriline, “I Nursed the Quintuplets: Part Two.”
“She always remarks on how cute they look”: “Lethargy Strikes Quintet; Five Babies Are Given Rum,” Toronto Star, June 12, 1934.
“too highly specialized”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 73.
“The nurses won’t let me in to touch them”: Eric Gibbs, “Mrs. Dionne Retains Faith in Births as God’s Miracle,” Toronto Star, August 31, 1934.
“Doctor Dafoe’s heart was made of stone”: De Kruif, 279.
“I long to hold my little jumelles”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 76.
“quick-spoken where her children were concerned”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 78.
“They’re doing everything for the babies”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 77–78.
“We were helpless”: Tesher, The Dionnes, 224.
CHAPTER 10
“like ladies”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 77.
“with the abstracted manner” and “master in the cow barn and hay field”: Forrest Davis, “Action Taken to Guard Babes from Epidemic,” Pittsburgh Press, August 10, 1934.
“We have had no trouble”: “Government Intervenes in Dionne-Chicago Deal,” North Bay Nugget, June 18, 1934.
“There have been so many other promoters”: “New Light Thrown on Baby Contract,” North Bay Nugget, June 20, 1934.
“They have offered me money”: “Quintuplets for Hospital If Showmen Don’t Ease Up,” Toronto Star, June 5, 1934.
“I’m not denying it; I’m not saying it’s true”: “Quintuplets for Hospital.”
“strenuous efforts to break the contract”: “Fear One of Quintuplets Is Near Death.”
“You know, Oliva has been alone here for ten years”: “Government Intervenes in Dionne-Chicago Deal.”
“We are quite willing”: “New Light Thrown on Baby Contract.”
“Turning over custody”: Barker The Dionne Legend, 80.
“more than a little gruff”: Hunt, The Little Doc, 137.
“In a sickroom”: Hunt, The Little Doc, 283–284.
“He treated them with disdain”: George Sinclair, interviewed in The Dionne Quintuplets.
“We were raking hay” and “His face looked”: Barker, The Quints Have a Family, 142.
“Brace yourself for a shock” and “Why, with such an unnatural arrangement”: Barker, The Quints Have a Family, 143.
“To me they were” and “If I live to be a hundred”: Barker, “Tells of Offer to Exhibit Quints.”
“How can I accept it?”: Barker, The Quints Have a Family, 144.
“Then there was an ominous lull”: Barker, “Tells of Offer to Exhibit Quints.”
“As far as we are aware”: “No Interference with Quintuplets Says Children’s Aid Society Head,” North Bay Nugget, July 11, 1934.
“fit and worthy parents”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 78.
“shook like a leaf”: Barker, The Quints Have a Family, 148.
“I would tell them”: Barker, “Tells of Offer to Exhibit Quints.”
CHAPTER 11
“Dionne Highway” and “Quintuplet Drive”: “Dionne Homestead Now Well Guarded,” Toronto Globe, August 16, 1934.
“They want to know ‘How far’ ”: “Dionnes Now Have to Guard Quintuplets from Tourist Horde,” Chicago Tribune, August 2, 1934.
“Mrs. Oliva Dionne, the Miracle Mother, North Woods, Canada”: “The Miracle Mother,” Toronto Globe, June 14, 1934.
“with the excitement of a sporting event”: “Rum, Milk, Corn Syrup, Quintuplets First Meal,” Toronto Star, January 22, 1935.
“What is there about these babies”: “The Quintuplets,” Pittsburgh Press, August 12, 1934.
“Of course, they have no right to be alive at all”: “Quintuplets Come Near Being Six, Dionnes’ Family Physician States,” Wilkes-Barre Record, June 6, 1934.
“Not ‘How are the quintuplets?’ ” and “She is so tiny”: “Nature, Attendants Alike Single Out Marie for Favor,” Toronto Star, June 7, 1934.
“never could lose its entrancing novelty”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 74.
“I remember one of the first times”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 61–62.
“But gradually…there began to be characteristic differences”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 63.
“In many ways I would say”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 64–65.
“A more perfectly shaped child,” “a shade rounder,” and “nature was a distinctly placid one”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 65.
“pathetically patient” and “acquired the disposition”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 66.
“a small duckling”
: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 67.
“the little Madonna”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 18, 1935.
“Parents are not quite sure”: Leroux diary B, July 27, 1934.
“The hospital is under way”: Leroux diary B, August 6, 1934.
“a jumbling noise at the window” and “heard the noise of someone running”: “Kidnapping Plot Is Feared; Prowler Disturbs Dionnes,” Toronto Star, August 8, 1934.
“the watchdog of the household”: “First Reporter Is Admitted to the Quintuplets’ Bedroom,” Toronto Globe, August 17, 1934.
“The grandfather quivered with rage,” “but that dread was in everyone’s mind,” and “Underneath the routine in nursery”: “Kidnapping Plot Is Feared.”
“Calamity in nursery” and “She grabbed them all to her breast”: Leroux diary B, August 6, 1934.
“Any prowler daring those lights”: Leroux diary B, August 10, 1934.
“The older, singly born Dionne young ones” and “He grumbles daily”: Davis, “Action Taken to Guard Babes from Epidemic.”
CHAPTER 12
“Can you imagine”: Leroux diary B, August 13, 1934.
“the observation tower”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 90.
“L’hôpital temporaire”: Barker, The Quints Have a Family, 148.
“Dear Doctor”: De Kruif, 285, and Berton, The Dionne Years, 216 (footnote 78–24).
“Scraps of wood and stone”: “Hunt for Souvenirs Around Dionne Home,” Toronto Star, August 22, 1934.
“Look here!” and “We’ll give the baby an enema”: Hunt, The Little Doc, 250.
“I became convinced”: Dafoe, “Care to Prevent Infection.”
“Babes are all losing weight”: Leroux diary B, September 12, 1934.
“That whole time was a nightmare”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 17, 1935.
“Babes still sick”: Leroux diary B, September 14, 1934.
“The situation did not bear discussion” and “It was evident to us all”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 17, 1935.
“We’ve got to move them today”: Hunt, The Little Doc, 251.
“Naturally, they were afraid” and “The radiators began to warm the air”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 17, 1935.
“It was a cold, rainy, miserable day”: Oliva Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?” True Story, February 1939.
“The Little Doctor followed”: Hunt, The Little Doc, 254.
“We stood at the door a moment”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months.”Manitowoc Herald Times, July 17, 1935.
“eyes that had been wrung dry”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”
“This will never seem like home again”: Barker, The Dionne Legend, 92.
“If we had expected drama”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 17, 1935.
“Those children were as pale” and “For Dr. Dafoe to move those babies”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 17, 1935.
“The day of the moving”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 75.
“As if by the touch of a fairy’s wand”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 76.
“much improved”: Transcription from “The Dionne Quintuplets—Daily weights and records.” Pierre Berton fonds, McMaster University.
“In general their condition is satisfactory”: “Babies Moved to Hospital,” North Bay Nugget, September 21, 1934.
“In short,…they took up life again”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 17, 1935.
“the rats’ nest”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 157.
“soon became vigorously kicking youngsters”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 75–76.
“the exact shade of the old-fashioned cinnamon rose”: Marguerite Mooers Marshall,“The Private Life of the Dionne Quintuplets,” Liberty, June 29, 1935.
“with their dark velvety sparkling eyes”: de Kiriline, The Quintuplets’ First Year, 88–89.
“Whatever she does is done with all her might”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 18, 1935.
“scrap”: Ernest Lynn, “Nurse Describes Personalities of Quintuplets as They Reach Age of Antics (And Scraps, Too),” Pittsburgh Press, February 22, 1935.
“She is interested in everything,” “Almost the most upset she ever got,” “athlete of the crowd,” “To make her laugh and frolic,” and “You felt as though”: de Kiriline, “Living Five Years in Twelve Months,” Manitowoc Herald Times, July 18, 1935.
“Hello, bums!”: “Soft Voice Often Stills Babies’ Tiny Troubles,” Toronto Star, January 19, 1935; Marguerite Mooers Marshall, “The Fairy Godfather and the Dionne Quintuplets Cinderellas,” Liberty, April 18, 1936.
“How’s my gang this morning?”: “Simple Notation Sufficed to Record Quintuplet Birth.”
“his voice, his smile, his eyes”: Marshall, “The Fairy Godfather.”
“I know of no greater treat in the world”: Brough, We Were Five, 54.
“It never occurred to us”: Genia Goelz, interviewed in Miracle Babies.
CHAPTER 13
“That was a sad time”: Yvette Boyce, interviewed in Miracle Babies.
“I would sooner do a big washing”: “Quintuplets’ Mother Plans Direct Action,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 15, 1935.
“a luxurious fortress”: Phyllis Griffiths, “Papa and Mama Dionne,” Chatelaine, March 1936.
“like we had committed some crime”: Harry E. Taylor, “Parents of Dionne Quints Bitterly Resent the Removal of the Girls from the Dionne Household and Care,” Humboldt Republican, October 9, 1936; see also “Parents Saddened as Noted Infants Celebrate Birthday,” North Bay Nugget, May 27, 1935.
“She looked down at the adorable children”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”
“They belong to them,…not to us”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”
“That is not so”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”
“Kodak pests”: Lillian Barker, “Quintuplets’ Mother Tells Story of Romance and Marriage,” Des Moines Register, September 29, 1935.
“He keeps his eyes downward”: Wolfert, “Eternally Drawn Shades.”
“As the weeks passed”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”
“Dr. Dafoe says our other children”: Phyllis Griffiths, “Mrs. Dionne, Troubled and Worried over Quintuplets’ Future, Wants Her Babies,” Winnipeg Tribune, May 28, 1935; see also “Doctor Encourages Parents to See Quintuplets Often,” Toronto Star, January 21, 1935, and Dafoe, “Care to Prevent Infection.”
“Crowds came to see the quintuplets” and “It is only for two years”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”
“In order to house them properly”: Lillian Barker, “Mrs. Dionne Tells of First Son’s Birth When She Was 17,” Des Moines Register, October 13, 1935.
“wonder parents”: “Ma and Pa Dionne in U.S.,” Paramount Newsreel, 1935 (in The Dionne Quintuplets).
“We just want to show them a real good time”: “Dionnes Reach Toronto Today,” North Bay Nugget, February 4, 1935.
“This is just a visit”: “Dionnes May Earn $12,00 for Theatrical Appearances,” El Paso Herald-Post, February 9, 1935.
“But as we got nearer and nearer”: Barker, “Mrs. Dionne Tells of First Son’s Birth.”
“I am sure, if it had been possible” and “
Events followed one another”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”
“These are not actors, folks”: “Oliva Is Philosophic, Mrs. Dionne in Tears over $1,000,000 Action,” Toronto Star, February 9, 1935.
“Mrs. Dionne and myself”: “Dionnes Cheered on Stage, Named in $1,000,000 Suit,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 9, 1935.
“Merci beaucoup et que Dieu vous bénisse”: Lillian Barker, “Don’t My Babies Need Me?” Modern Romances, October 1936.
“They eat them three times a day”: “Dionnes Beam in Stage Debut,” Des Moines Register, February 9, 1935.
That Little Shrimp There, Yep, That’s Papa Dionne and “would never be big enough”: “That Little Shrimp There, Yep, That’s Papa Dionne,” Milwaukee Journal, February 7, 1935.
“stooge”: “Parents of Quintuplets Buy Five Dolls, Drink 20 Bottles of Soda Pop,” Decatur Herald, February 7, 1935.
“backwoods”: “Strawberries in February Send Dionne Bill Upward,” Pittsburgh Press, February 11, 1935.
“Dionne Tour a Flop”: “Dionne Tour a Flop,” Toronto Globe, February 11, 1935.
“circus tour”: “Mrs. Dionne Buys but Papa Never Passes Up Pop as Chicago Crowds Gape,” Pittsburgh Press, February 7, 1935.
“It’s nauseating to Canadians”: “Exploitation of Quintuplets Will Become Illegal,” Evening Times (Sayre, PA), February 9, 1935.
“I want my babies to have the best possible chance”: “Touring to Build a Home, Says Quintuplets’ Mother,” Toronto Star, February 15, 1935.
“They are far from destitute”: “Dionnes Lose Fight to Control Trust,” Pittsburgh Press, February 23, 1935.
“They have no value”: “Exploitation of Quintuplets Will Become Illegal.”
“You can rest assured”: “Dionnes Lose Fight to Control Trust.”
CHAPTER 14
“We returned to Corbeil” and “Elzire could not speak”: Dionne, “Whose Children Are the Quintuplets?”