""The derby, often portrayed in the press as a spectacle, ultimately ignited public scrutiny and controversy across Depression-era Canada, where birth control was illegal but large families were a hot-button issue.""
""It has a lot to teach us about Toronto and Canada and probably the whole Western world at the time, tying into big historical forces that are at play-debates around morality and class and race.""
Charles Vance Millar's will included a unique clause offering 500,000 Canadian dollars to the Toronto mother who gave birth to the most children within ten years. This unusual competition led to legal disputes and extensive media coverage in the early 1930s, reflecting societal issues surrounding family size during the Great Depression. The event highlighted public debates on morality, class, and race, as birth control was illegal and large families were contentious. Millar's eccentricity and wealth contributed to the spectacle surrounding the competition.
Read at Smithsonian Magazine
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