Source: Futility Closet
When Toronto attorney Charles Vance Millar died in 1926, he left behind a mischievous will that promised a fortune to the woman who gave birth to the most children in the next 10 years. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll follow the Great Stork Derby and the hope and controversy it brought to Toronto’s largest families during the Great Depression.
We’ll also visit some Portuguese bats and puzzle over a suspicious work crew.
Intro:
The programming language Shakespeare produces code that reads like a stage play.
In a qualification round for the 1994 Caribbean Cup, Barbados and Grenada seemed to switch sides.
Sources for our feature on the Great Stork Derby:
Mark M. Orkin, The Great Stork Derby, 1982.
In Re Estate of Charles Millar (1937), [1938] 1 D.L.R. 65 (Supreme Court of Canada).
Chris Bateman, “Historicist: The Great Stork Derby,” Torontoist, Oct. 29, 2016.
David Goldenberg, “How a Dead Millionaire Convinced Dozens of Women to Have as Many Babies as Possible,” Five Thirty Eight, Dec. 11, 2015.
Adam Bunch, “The Great Toronto Stork Derby — Why the City Went Baby Crazy During the Great Depression,” Spacing Magazine, July 23, 2013.
Steuart Henderson Britt, “The Significance of the Last Will and Testament,” Journal of Social Psychology 8:3 (August 1937), 347-353.
Peter Edwards, “1926 Will Sparked Toronto’s Great ‘Stork Derby,’” Toronto Star, Sept. 9, 2006.
“Big Family, Big Prize,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan. 17, 2002.
Douglas J. Johnston, “Will Power,” The Beaver 81:4 (August/September 2001), 37-39.
Marty Gervais, “Stork Derby of ’26 Meant to Tweak Beaks of Clergy,” Windsor Star, June 23, 2000.
Craig Zawada, “Dumb Moments in Legal History,” Saskatchewan Business 20:6 (Nov. 1, 1999), 7.
Pat MacAdam, “The Mischievous Will: Toronto the Good Left Shaken by Staid Lawyer’s Quirky Last Wishes,” Ottawa Citizen, Aug. 2, 1999.
John Picton, “Lawyer’s Will Started Baby Boom,” Toronto Star, Feb. 26, 1989.
Kathleen Walker, “Stork Derby Strangest of Lawyer’s Bequests,” Ottawa Citizen, Dec. 14, 1981.
Susan Schwartz, “Prim Toronto Was Site of Baby Race,” Montreal Gazette, Dec. 9, 1981.
“Mrs. Annie Smith,” New York Times, Jan. 21, 1948.
“Toronto Bequest Provides for Second ‘Stork Derby,’” New York Times, March 12, 1946.
“Stork Derby Victors Lonely for Children,” New York Times, July 6, 1938.
“Topics of the Times,” New York Times, June 1, 1938.
“Last of ‘Stork Derby’?”, Ottawa Evening Citizen, May 31, 1938.
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