QUINTS’ FORTUNE

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 June 1937, Page 10

QUINTS’ FORTUNE

OVER £114,000 SAVED. .... CALLANDER (Ontario), May 12. When early one May morning three years ago five girls were born io a Callander fanner’s wife, the first meal these infants digested-contained just a few drops of corn syrup. The problem of who made the corn syrup on which the children of Airs. Elzire Dionne thrived for the first few hours of life has only recently been decided in the Courts, arid this is only on eof the financial squabbles that have? circulated -round the lives of Callander’s world-famed quintruplets. The corn syrup feud was fought out between the St. Lawrence Starch Company and the Canada Starch Cbmpany.', 7

Sales of the St. Lawrence Company’s syrup boomed when they declared it was their syrup that fortified the Quins, but they were soon sued by the Canada Starch Company, for- £30,000 damage?,. Canada Starch said that their corn syrup had been in the Dionne household before, during, and after the birth of the five girls'. ' ■'

Evidence disclosed that the St, Lawrence product’s advertising had jumped from £2400 in 1933 to £59,00Q . in 1936, and that sales had risen proportionately. The Court decision was in favour of the St. Lawrence Company, but meanwhile the quintuplets had sold exclu : sive advertising rights to another corn syrup company, connected with Canada Starch.

Names and photographs of Yvonne, Annette, Emilie, Marie and Cecile, singly and together, are beiirn used to boost'the sales of soaps, tooth paste, face cream, breakfast foods, ■ milk, cod-liver oil, biscuits, children’s clothes, hair ribbons and corn syrup. They are also involved in the marketing of quintuplet dolls, on which the manufacturers pay a royalty.

FOODS AND FILMS. Their, first contract was for a year’s endorsement of cod-liver oil. for which they were paid only £lOO. Since then they have been paid • £SOQO for endorsing one brand of breakfast food. So far the largest single contribution to the quintuplets’ fortune has come from the film people. Twentieth Century-Fox paid £lO,OOO for the right to make the first feature film, “The Country Doctor.” Pathe pays £2OOO a year for exclusive news-reel rights. The Ontario Government has just passed a bill providing that nobody in Canada may use the term “quintuplets,” or the abbreviation “quins” or "quints,” or tho French phrase, “cinq jumelies’’ in connection with any commercial product without first obtaining the permission of the guardians who look after the rights of the five little girls. In the United States, their legal representative, Mr. Arthur Garfield, Hays, will soon apply for restraining orders, making the quintuplets’ rights watertight. “The commercial godfather to the quins lives in New York. He is Mr. Fred. S. Ferguson, and the quintuplets’ guardians consult him on any advertising contract.

He censors tho advertising with an eye to dignity.

“They could be bigger than Shirley Temple in an advertising way if we wanted to sacrifice dignity.” says Mr. Ferguson. So the Dionne quintuplets are on their way to being dollar millionaires. From royalties on advertisement films and photographs, not to speak of 1

fees for their twice-daily exhibitions, their guardians have already put aside 573.000 dollars (£114,GOO) in bonds, ami expect to pass the million dollarmark in 1935.