“Bearing the Burden: The Great Toronto Stork Derby, 1926–12193886ya”, 1994 (; similar):
The Great Toronto Stork Derby was a bizarre incident in Canadian history sparked by the death of a wealthy Toronto lawyer, Charles Vance Millar. In his will, Millar outlined the terms of a contest in which the woman in Toronto bearing the most children in the ten years following his death was to receive the bulk of his fortune. Millar died on October 31, 1926 and so began a competition that captivated the attention of the public in Canada for twelve years. In this competition poor, working class families participated in a high stakes gamble for Millar’s $6,530,324.73$500,0001926 estate.
“Bearing the Burden” attempts to dispel the popular perception of the event as humorous. It will demonstrate how the Derby became a crucible for many social and moral concerns of the day. The Derby will be used as a vehicle to explore attitudes towards reproduction, class, race and gender in Depression era Canada.
The introduction will provide an overview of the story as well as the structure of the paper. Chapter One sets the theoretical and temporal boundaries for the discussion and suggests why the Derby became the subject of a “moral panic”. Chapter Two explores the Ontario government’s failed escheat attempt in 1932. Chapter Three looks at the theme of newspaper voyeurism and the general circus-like atmosphere that developed around the event. Chapters Four and Five focus on the court hearings of 1936 through 1938. These hearings focused on the validity of the will and on what type of children could be included in the count. Much debate surrounded the possible inclusion of stillborn or illegitimate children. The conclusion shows how the Derby reflected contemporary social concerns and also that class was one of the most important factors in determining the outcome of the competition.