Sarasota, FL - Ca d'Zan

My, did we have a fun day today. One of the main attractions in Sarasota is The Ringling, a complex of buildings, gardens, statues and a magnificent miniature circus. We got up early so we could get there at 10:00 when they opened. There are 3 major attractions here at the Ringling: the home of Mable and John Ringling, one of the founders of the Ringling Bros. Circus, the Circus Museum with a massive miniature of a circus, and a marvelous Museum of Art, the 16th largest collection in the US. We bought our tickets and decided to visit the home, Ca d’Zan, first, since we can get lost in museums and might run out of time for the home.

Well, first, who was John Ringling? He started poor, amassed a great fortune, became a world-renown celebrity as he traveled abroad extensively but died with $311 in the bank. He was born in 1866 in McGregor, Iowa, the 5th of 7 sons and 1 daughter to 2 German immigrants. There wasn’t much entertainment in small towns in the Midwest in the late 1800’s except a traveling circus which enthralled the Ringling brothers. They practiced singing and dancing, they played musical instruments and finally they began a small touring company of touring performers and a small circus act. (John Ringling is the one with the hair.)

Officially called the Ringling Bros. United Monster Shows, Great Double Circus, Royal European Menagerie, Museum, Caravan, and Congress of Trained Animals or, more commonly, The Ringling Bros. Circus, it grew and also purchased other small touring circuses and added other acts. John was the advance man who would precede the circus, make all the arrangements in the next towns on the tour, put up posters, find sites for the circus, etc. By 1889 the show had a seating capacity of about 4,000 as it played throughout the Midwest. Admission was 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. John also proposed using the trains to move the circus rather than horse-drawn wagons.

Here’s a picture of a miniature circus - actually this is a picture of part of the circus. Since it was so big, I couldn’t get it all into the picture. I never imagined that a circus would take so much space, employ so many people and be such a large operation. Obviously the back lot is much larger than the Big Top itself where the performances take place.

And, here’s another picture to show the back lot. The big Top is the tent in the foreground.

In 1907, the Ringlings finally purchased their largest competitor -- Barnum & Bailey Circus for a price of $400,000. It then was named the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Combined Shows, The Greatest Show On Earth®. Obviously it was a small city moving around the US and Canada, a small town with huge tents, poles, 1200 people, rhinos, giraffes, lots of elephants, horses, and all the things these need - especially food. Sometimes they would play only one day in a town but they also put on two or more shows in a town. First to move into a town were the background people, those who took care of the performers: the cooks (who served 3 meals a day for the 1200 people in a tent), the blacksmith, a medical team, the vets, the saddlery, the barbershop, some of the set-up people etc. They would do this often while the circus was actually performing in the last town. Then the circus itself loaded up after the performance and arrived in the next town. Huge tents would go up, the traveling cars for the animals were set up, food was brought in, other tents were set up - the performers change tent, the side-show, the Big Top, the midway and others. Then, as the circus Set it up, perform, take it down and move to the next town for the same process. I imagine the set-up took longer than the show itself.

Food for the performers and roadies along with the food for the animals was all purchased in the local area. What a boon for business. John Ringling’s brothers died off within a few years of each other and he was the sole owner of the circus until he died in 1936 when his nephew took over and then the nephew’s cousin. However, by 1956, the circus had slowly faded as an institution in America replaced by the TV. On July 16, 1956 the last performance under the big top took place in Pittsburg, PA. LIFE magazine wrote that ‘a magical era had passed forever.’ Well, they were right for a few month until a new owner bought the circus and it is still going strong even now.

Ok, that ’s the Ringling Bros. history, but what about John and Mable Ringling who married in 1905. Because her family had ties to the Sarasota area, the couple began wintering there and chose Sarasota as the spot for their magnificent home, Ca d’Zan on 20 acres of waterfront property. Ringling not only ran the family’s mammoth circus operations, he also invested in Florida real estate, oil production, banks and other businesses. He amassed quite a fortune and he and Mable traveled the globe purchasing a large collection of Baroque art.

To ‘store’ this art they built a 56-room mansion, completed in 1925 at a stunning cost of $1.5 million dollars ($21 million in today’s dollars). Here they installed a $50 thousand dollar organ and their $35 thousand dollar bedroom set. On the roof are tiles from Barcelona from buildings slated for demolition to enlarge the streets. He brought the tiles to America in 2 barges. Mable Ringling even had a gondola at the dock ready to give her and her guests rides along the shore.

Here is a picture of the back which faced the bay. Nicely they had tables and chairs set up for tourists to enjoy the view here also.

They also built a fabulous museum to house the rest of the art. But Mable died in 1928, the stock market crash of 1929 erased much of his fortune, a second marriage was a failure and when he died in 1936, the rumors were that he had only $311 in the bank. However, to preserve his home and art museum from his creditors, he willed it to the State of Florida. The Art Museum flourished but the home fell into disrepair until the early part of this century when Florida transferred the house to Florida State University and provided $40 million to renovate it and build some new buildings. Finally in 2002, the home reopened for tours with the leaky roof fixed, the furnishings refinished and the interior doors regilded.

Here are some of the pictures I took of the inside of the house. The formal living room looking out over the bay.

Ceiling tiles in the ball room - note they are all pictures of dancing couples.

The music room with a huge organ off to the right.

A place setting at the dining table. Gee, I only put out a spoon, fork and a knife.

The ceiling in the dining room which looks like wood but is plaster formed and painted to look like wood. There are even striations in it.

An, of course, the view.

After we had walked through the house, we toured the grounds and the special gardens. At the end of one garden, The Secret Garden, Gary discovered the secret: the graves where John and Mabel Ringling are buried, not marked on the map of the Ringling, with no sign telling tourists that they are here. Very secret but, if you come here, don’t miss this.

Time to head on to the Circus Museum - maybe after a bite of lunch.