the dionne quintuplets

'quintland' - a vintage postcard

the dionne quintuplets (born May 28, 1934) were the first quintuplets known to survive their infancy. the sisters were born two months premature, just outside callander, ontario, canada near the village of corbeil. after four months with their family, they were made wards of the king for the next nine years under the dionne quintuplets' guardianship act, 1935. The government and those around them began to profit by making them a significant tourist attraction in ontario. by 1936, the quintuplets industry was in full swing, and "quintland" had equalled the niagara falls as the biggest tourist attraction in canada.

madame alexander dolls from 1938

vintage handkerchief

and other off-putting items, like this 1939 mortician's advertising calendar or this gem:

how do you feel about dionne quintuplets... soap?

and a few more tidbits about these identical quintuplets (in order of birth):

-Yvonne Edouilda Marie Dionne (died June 23, 2001 (aged 67) of cancer)

-Annette Lillianne Marie Dionne (Allard) (age 76)

-Cécile Marie Emilda Dionne (Langlois) (age 76)

-Émilie Marie Jeanne Dionne (died August 6, 1954 (aged 20) of accidental suffocation during an epileptic seizure at her convent)

-Marie Reine Alma Dionne (Houle) (died February 27, 1970 (aged 35) of an apparent blood clot of the brain in Montreal)

Emilie and Marie shared an embryonic sac (and were mirror twins), Annette and Yvonne shared an embryonic sac, and it is believed that Cecile shared an embryonic sac with the sixth fetus who was miscarried. Interestingly, each girl became emotionally the closest to whomever they shared a sac with; Cecile tended to be alone the most.

so: if you ever are at the thrift store & you see 5 look-alike dolls, or 5 look-alike spoons, or 5 look-alike soaps, or 5 look-alike....