Nov. 29th..... The Ringling circus museum....John Ringling had 6 brothers 4 of whom were partners from the beginning and the other two joining later. Ringling eventually bought out the Barnum circus. Later there were two circus's the Blue and the Red. One travelled the east coast and Europe and the other covered the remainder of the States. Lance and Paul were participants in the 75th anniversary circus in Sarasota in 1977 when both the Blue and Red circus's were combined, doing their acts in the winter headquarters before taking the shows on the road.

The woodcarving shop showing a lion in process

This is an exact replica of a parade wagon that was pulled by 40 horses.

Parade Wagons


This is a cutaway model of the 3 ring circus

This map shows how the rail lines all converged on the winter quarters. If you enlarge the map you can read where the animals were quartered, the cookhouse, and the living quarters are. This was the winter headquarters where the employees practised, made their costumes and repaired their equipment
The truck used to shoot the acrobat from the cannon. The clown beside the truck is actually a firechief.
These clown faces are exact copies of the Ringling clowns. Each clown had his own unique face the most famous was Emmet Kelley
This wagon contained a steam powered calliope That played the music for the circus parade. The steam engine was in the fwd. section of the wagon.
This is the rolling blacksmith shop where all the maintenance was done on the wagon wheels. It also contained a welder and the blacksmiths wife did all the welding. Probably one of the first lady welders in the U.S. The wheels also rec'd their elaborate paint jobs here. When the wheels were all painted it was time to go back and start repainting them all over again.