Before “Jon & Kate Plus 8”, before “Octomom” even before the amazing Del Rubio Triplets, the most famous multiple birth was the Dionne Quintuplets.  They were born in the 1934, the first known set of quintuplets to survive past infancy, they were famous around the world, an absolute phenomenon … and horribly exploited. 

As is the case with most child stars, their story includes multiple types of abuse, stolen finances (of course), custody issues, an evil and greedy doctor hidden behind the visage of a kindly caretaker, an early death of one and subsequently mostly unhappy lives for the girls – Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie and Marie. 

They were also literally and physically exploited as they were put “on display” in a “nursery” that attracted up to 3,000 people per day to watch them behind a one-way screen.  Five little girls in a nursery, toddlers going about their daily routine, obliviously on display as a tourist attraction. 

Aside from their parents (especially their father), the most abusive character in their lives was the obstetrician who helped deliver them, Dr. Allan Ray Dafoe.  He was played as a kindly character in all three movies starring the Dionne Quintuplets by Jean Hersholt (see the directory) for my autograph of him.  But Dafoe was anything but kindly.  He lined his pockets exploiting these children, puffed out his chest for the whole world to see, manipulated their simple parents and was simply a greedy egotist and opportunist. 

Almost everybody in their lives cashed in on the Dionne Quintuplets.  Shown here is “Quints to Queens”, a signed book written in 1976 by one of their nurses, M. Louise Corriveau. 

Books, movies, product endorsements and cultural references abounded – but the quintuplets grew up to find that their money was all but gone.  They were beautiful, fragile girls that should have been taken care of, but sadly were not. As adults they still had to endure painful memories, emotional turmoil and continued scrutiny.  It took until 1997 for them to finally recoup some of the many millions they made for other people by successfully suing the Ontario government for exploitation and winning four million dollars.  Too little, too late. 

You will see here an assortment of books that I have on the Dionne Quintuplets, and they range in accuracy from sugar-coated fairy tale to hard cold truths.  I strongly recommend the one written in 1996 by the surviving sisters, “Family Secrets”. 

Autographs of Dr. Dafoe are pretty abundant, because he fancied himself a celebrity and answered fan mail to the GIRLS with the diligence of Joan Crawford – you will find his signed letters, such as those shown here, quite frequently on eBay.  I believe the one dated April 22nd, 1936, was signed by his secretary or somebody else, because his signature usually has all three names connected, never lifting the pen.  Allan Roy and Dafoe are too neatly separated on that letter and I find it dubious. 

Their father Oliva Dionne signed postcards and other items pretty frequently and so did their nurses, especially Madame Lebel, one of the two midwives.  Oliva and Lebel autographs from my collection are shown here.  Note that the triple-fold post card signed by their father is to emphasize the crowded parking lot and all the cars … all the people who came on the regular to be looky-loos for the Quintuplets in a Zoo.    

As far as autographs of the girls themselves are concerned – they are exceedingly rare.  I’ve never seen any on the market.  There are two living quintuplets as of this writing.  Even as a die-hard autograph collector, I feel it would be inappropriate to try and track them down for an autograph.  Asking for a little piece of a reluctant celebrity who was thrust in the limelight as a child and had so much taken from them?  It just doesn’t seem okay. 

Fantastic documentary BBC Arena: The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima (1985)