The Ringling

The Ringling
5401 Bay Shore Rd.
Sarasota, FL  34243

941-359-5700

www.ringling.org

 

 

AT A GLANCE:  The Ringling
Date of visit	December, 2020
Parking	Free, plentiful
Amount of time needed to peruse exhibits:	3 – 4 hours
Amount of time needed for gift shop	30 – 45 minutes
The “must have” souvenir	Circus poster
Online shopping	No
Kid friendly shopping	Limited
Kid friendly	Yes
Dress code	Casual
Be sure to…..	Wear comfortable shoes.  The “complex” takes up a lot of land.
Nearby/other establishments to visit	Numerous beaches
Walkability, general downtown area / amount of traffic	The area outside of the complex is not walkable
Safety, in terms of type and number of crimes committed in general area	Generally safe, but common sense rules.  Lock your car and keep valuables out of sight.

 

 

The Visitor Pavilon

 

Mission Statement:

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art inspires, educates, and entertains through arts and culture, and is a place that encourages creative ideas, innovative thinking, open dialogue, and meaningful exchange.

 

 

I used to date a clown.  True story.  So, yes, I was curious.  How do they really fit all of those clowns in one of those tiny clown cars?  Sadly, I still don’t hold that knowledge.  Make a point, though, to visit the Ringling Bros. Circus Museum, located on the west coast of Florida in Sarasota.  This is a full day, as the “complex” contains four buildings:

·         Circus Museum

·         Learning Center

·         Ringling mansion, Ca d’Zan

·         Fine Arts Museum

 

 

We visited all four, but you can easily limit yourself to the Museum and the Learning Center.  The circus is fascinating both as a source of entertainment and as a self-contained mobile village.  The museum focuses on the history of the circus; for example, explaining that sideshows came about as a way to not only attract people but as a way to make them stick around to see the acts inside the tent.  Circuses use a liberal amount of the colors red and yellow for the sole purpose of capturing your attention.  Nowhere is this more evident than the colorful displays of circus wagons.  By the way, an interesting fact is that the phrase “The Greatest Show on Earth” was coined by P.T. Barnum in 1872 and not by any of the Ringling Brothers.

 

 

Visit the Learning Center to discover the logistics of a traveling circus, erecting and disassembling the equivalent of a small town.  What’s more, they do it night after night.  Make sure to watch the video describing how it’s done, then  wander over to Lego circus display for a jaw-dropping representation of an honest-to-goodness traveling circus.  Take as much time as you need to contemplate this miniature circus.  Twenty to thirty minutes should do nicely, because it’s that big and awesome. 

 

 

I don’t care how old you are, you’re going to be enthralled with the miniature circus layout.  Again, note the yellows and reds everywhere, grabbing your attention:  posters, wagon wheels, clothing.  Why?  Because those colors grab your attention, and attention is what a circus was about, and how they made their money.

 

 Take time to appreciate this display.  Spend close to forty five minutes learning how a circus operates by watching a video and it’s downright fascinating.  One of the things that make this a great display is that the ambient sounds change while walking from one area to the next.  The sound coincides with the display, from the sound of the crowd to the sounds of horses, livestock, and other animals.  The other thing is that it cycles through day / night lighting.  The streetlights come on when it gets dark, and the circus tents start lighting up.  I couldn’t help but thinking about my clown “friend” among this circus atmosphere.  Phil (his stage name) would have been delighted that such homage is bestowed on the circus.

The Ringling mansion, Ca’ d’Zan (translated as “House of John”), and its fine art museum are located at the far end of the complex. We toured the house which was nicely and politely decorated for the Christmas holidays (we visited in December).

   

 

 

You could probably skip this part of the complex, because Ca’ d’Zan is similar to many other mansions that are available for tour in Florida.  It’s beautiful, but I’m not sure it’s worth it’s worth the wait.  

 

We took a tour of the Ringling mansion, covering the entire first floor (the upper levels were closed because of COVID-19).  Interesting fact:  the original  paneling of the house was bought from billionaire Mary Astor’s New York house.  Ms. Astor was known for creating the first social registry; however, the Ringlings were not on the registry.  Moving along to the Breakfast Room, I saw gorgeous turquoise-colored leather chairs in the Breakfast Room.  It was then that I realized we didn’t have turquoise chairs or a breakfast room, so I made sure I pointed this out to Bob.  

 

 

Part of the back patio

 

 

This is where John Ringling parked his yacht

 

 Whether you do or don’t tour the inside, make a point to walk around out back on the huge patio fronting Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.  John Ringling built this patio so he’d have a place to park his 125’ yacht.  The patio is a bit on the garish side, but that’s expected with the Ringlings being circus folks.

 

Go to the Ringling Museum of Fine Arts nearby, as it houses some impressive works and has a decent representation of fine arts from the Renaissance to Pre-Impressionist periods.  The collection contains several Rueben paintings, the artist known for his depicture of curvy women.   

 

Are you ready for shopping?  Let's visit the gift shop.

 

The view from the front door

You can see the red and yellow circus posters, this week's "must have" souvenir in this photo

Some great wearables, plus branded coffee mugs

Flamingo and palm tree ornaments, because nothing else says Christmas in Florida so well

This gift shop had a great variety of books for all ages.

 

They also carried a variety of topics relating to the circus

 

Coasters, more books, and a circus lamp

 

Refrigerator magnets and notecards

Branded wearables and coffee mugs

 

"Pedestrian" jewelry on the countertops

 

Good stuff under glass

This gift shop had a plethora of good stuff under glass

Fun stuff for the young ones

Homegoods

All in all, it was a decent gift shop.  What I would have done is to have two smaller gift shops, with one for the fine arts museum and Ca' d'Zan, and the other for the Circus Museum and the Learning Center.  I fully expected to be able to buy a pair of those big clown shoes and a squeaky nose, but they were nowhere to be seen.

We ended our day with a nice cup of coffee from the Museum Coffee Shop, located above the gift shop.

One final “clown” thing for you.  Use both hands for this.  First, make the shape of a heart with your hands.  Put this on your chest, over your real heart.  Then, make the shape of a pair of wings with your hands and “fly” this away from your chest.  I have it on good authority that this is clown-speak for “you have stolen my heart.”  A word of advice, though.  Once or twice it’s cute, after that it’s just downright annoying.

 

Good things to know:

• The Ringling Bros Circus Museum is the first museum to document the history of the American Circus.
• The Lego circus display at the Tibbal Learning Center is the largest miniature circus in the world.
•  Ringling.org has some great online resources for home-schoolers.  Be sure to check them out at ringling.org/guides and maps/family guides, the most unique being how to talk to your child about nudity in art.

 

 

 

 

Here’s a quick timeline of P.T. Barnum, Bailey, and the Ringling Brothers to get you up to speed so you can impress others with your vast circus knowledge:

 

1810	P.T. Barnum born
1842	Barnum open Barnum’s American Museum in New York City
1847	James A. Bailey born
1865	Barnum’s museum burns down
1866	John Ringling born
1871	P.T. Barnum’s Great and Traveling World’s Fair came into being
1872	·         Barnum’s circus became the first large circus to move on a daily basis ·         “The Greatest Show on Earth” slogan was coined by Barnum
1873	Barnum’s circus expands to 2-rings
1878	Bailey buys Great London Circus
1880	Barnum & Bailey negotiate partnership of the combined Barnum circus and the Great London Circus.
1881	Barnum and the Great London Circus expand to 3-rings
1884	Beginning of the Ringling Bros. circus
1885	Bailey is removed as Barnum’s business partner
1888	Bailey is again Barnum’s partner; takes daily control of Barnum & Bailey circus.
1890	Bailey buys Adam Forepaugh’s circus
1891	Barnum dies
1896	Bailey combines the Forepaugh circus with the Sells Brothers to form the Forepaugh – Sells Brothers circus
1905   The circus hits its heyday as the total number of circuses touring America peaks
1905	Bailey sells 50% interest in the Forepaugh – Sells Brothers circus to the Ringling Bros.
1906	Bailey dies, and his widow sells the remaining 50% of Forepaugh – Sells Brothers circus to the Ringlings
1907	The Ringling Bros. buy Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth
1919	The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey combine
1921	The American Circus Corporation is formed, consisting of several smaller circuses
1929	John Ringling purchases the American Circus Corporation
1936	John Ringling dies
1938	John Ringling North and his brother, Ringling nephews, assume control of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus
1956	Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus give last performance under the Big Top
1967	The circus is purchased by Irving and Israel Feld and Judge Roy Hofheinz
1968	Irvin Feld creates Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College to preserve the ancient art of clowning