John Ringling was one of five brothers famous for the Ringling Brothers Circus founded in 1870. They bought the Barnham and Baily Circus in 1907 which ran independently until 1918 when WW1 and the Spanish Flu forced the two circuses to merge into one. By 1919 there were only two brothers still alive and they decided to move the winter headquarters of the circus to southern Florida. John had the cash and the forethought to speculate in waterfront properties and purchased large tracts of land in the Sarasota area. His investments were wise and soon he became one of the wealthiest men in the world. John and his wife Maude traveled extensively and as was the custom in those days, each trip was an opportunity to snatch up antiques and artifacts from far flung areas. In 1929 he purchased the last of the touring circuses and with this purchase he controlled all of the touring circuses in the US. He passed away in 1936 after suffering financial ruin with only $311 in the bank. He bequeathed the mansion and its contents to the State of Florida and now FSU has governance
Moonfaced!
A very fancy flamingo
A mural
Is this a prision?
The Ringling complex
First the circus museum
I can hear the circus music already
A huge mural greets us
Bigger than life
So many details
An absolutely huge series of miniatures
In fact it is an entire circus in minature
A circus act practicing their big move
Are there ostrich races?
Call for help, we have an injury
The horse show
In fact there was an entire tent just for the horses
A huge wagon with a band on top
Lots of room on the inside for some big cats
The runway to the big top
The lone rhino
Jumbo the elephant's covering
In another wing are some oversized masks
Naked turkey on the top of a hat?
Clowns of renown
All five brothers Ringling
Iconic poster
Back to the miniatures, Elephants with clown masks
Ostriches as draught animals
A cute monkey
