The Quintland Sisters(59)
It may be a long time before the world sees a group picture of the Dionne family, including the quintuplets. Conflicting contracts over pictures prevent Mr. and Mrs. Dionne from being photographed with their five famous children.
Mr. Dionne is under contract to a New York syndicate with exclusive rights to photograph him. Another syndicate has exclusive picture rights to the quintuplets, which provides a considerable portion of their living expenses of $24,000 a year. Until these contracts expire, it will be impossible to pose Mr. and Mrs. Dionne with their five famous babies.
Would-be amateur photographers of the babies are still causing some concern at the nursery, Dr. Dafoe said today. Despite signs warning that no snapshots of the Quints may be taken, a few tourists attempt to get pictures of the babies through the viewing screen.
“It was necessary to seize film every day last summer,” Dr. Dafoe said. “On one occasion Annette noticed a man taking a picture of her and called to her nurse, who immediately asked for the film. It was even necessary to destroy a complete roll of moving picture film which one tourist had taken of the babies. We hung this film over the front door as a warning to others, since taking pictures of the quintuplets is strictly forbidden.”
The Hollywood moving picture company which has already made two full-length features of the quintuplets will begin work on a third picture next June. Their $300,000 contract with the quintuplets, providing for four full-length features, has provided the bulk of the babies’ fortune.
Used with permission.
1938
January 3, 1938
I’m back at work after what ended up being a longer Christmas break than planned: I came down with bronchitis and Dr. Dafoe asked me to stay with my family in town until I was feeling better rather than put the girls at risk. I was glad to have the extra time at home with little Edith, despite feeling poorly. Mother and Father seemed genuinely pleased to have me back home for such a stretch. They are proud of me, I realize. A new sensation. They loved my painting of Edith with her toy bunny, but, more than that, they are pleased to see me so settled in my “career,” as they’ve started to call it. I don’t think of it as a career, myself. It is simply my life.
Dr. Dafoe came by the house Friday to make sure I was cleared of any infection and agreed I was 100 percent recovered, so I’m back at the nursery today. Mr. Cartwright senior picked me up and brought me out first thing. For once he didn’t much seem in the mood for talking other than to say that Christmas had been lively. His other son, Bernard, Lewis’s brother, was in town with his wife and their little girl, Sheryl, who must be about the same age as Edith.
I let a beat pass before I said, “And how is Lewis making out in Montreal?”
Lewis left for Quebec New Year’s Day, Mr. Cartwright replied stiffly, but they hadn’t heard from him yet. “I reckon he’ll make out just fine.” His tone implied he wanted to leave it at that.
The girls absolutely mobbed me when I came in the door at breakfast time, spilling their juice and rattling their spoons. émilie more than all of them scarcely let me out of her sight all day.
Almost everyone else is also back at work today, or returned before I did: Fred and George came up to Callander from Toronto yesterday, and Dr. Dafoe returned from his vacation last week. Miss Beaulieu will arrive tomorrow, joined by Dr. Blatz, who is expected to visit for several days to discuss plans for the quintuplets’ education and care in the coming months. I can’t say I’m thrilled to hear he’s coming back.
Still, something shifted here while all of us were away, or that’s how it feels. Maybe it’s these short, dark days, but a certain levity is missing from the nursery. The girls seem more guarded and anxious to please. I can’t help thinking that without Sylvie’s booming laugh or the goofy antics from George and Fred, there’s been a lack of gaiety in the nursery these last few weeks.
Miss Tremblay and Nurse No?l have formed a strong bond, that’s clear. Miss Tremblay told me that M. and Mme. Dionne were over most days during the Christmas period, which is astounding given how seldom they visited last autumn. There is much talk of Maman and Papa from the girls, too, which is unusual. But then Miss Tremblay seems to be taking pains to remind them of the kind of girls their Maman wants them to be. I predict a clash with Miss Beaulieu, who tends to rule the roost when it comes to what constitutes good behavior and what doesn’t.
January 5, 1938 (Toronto Star)
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QUINTS LEARNING ENGLISH—“PLEASE” IS FIRST LESSON
Use Only That Language at Lunch
CALLANDER, Ontario—“Please” is the first English word which the Dionne quintuplets are learning.
“They are able to chatter back and forth fluently in French,” Dr. A. R. Dafoe says. “Each quint has a vocabulary of between 300 and 400 French words. They began to hear English a month ago, and they know 20 to 25 English words now.”
All conversation at the lunch table in the nursery is now carried on in English. “This is bread,” “this is butter,” say their three nurses and teachers.
Dr. Dafoe, who has been in charge of the babies’ health ever since they were born, is called “docteur” or sometimes “Docteur Dafoe” and occasionally “Da-da.”
This spring, the public will be barred from viewing the quintuplets the minute they show any signs of strain or fatigue, Dr. Dafoe declared, acknowledging that occasionally the girls can hear their visitors. Half a million tourists visited them in Callander in 1937.