(6) 1970s Circus World Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Rocks Glasses and (1) Smaller Glass. All have the image of a roaring lion's head and his front claws centered in a ring of fire, with the words "The World of Circuses" and "Circus" on the left side and the words "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey" and "World" on the right. The smaller one is not quite a shot glass, but rather a miniature rocks glass with a slightly flared rim, compared to the straight rim of the rest. All are clear glass, with the larger ones having a crosshatch pattern on the underside. 

Six Glasses: 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 x 4 in. 

Smaller Glass: 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 2 7/8 in. 

Circus World was a themed amusement park built in Davenport, Florida, originally conceived by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as their winter headquarters and clown college. The initial 1972 plans drawn up by then-owner Irvin Feld of Feld Entertainment included grand concepts like a 19-story elephant-shaped hotel and a residential community called Barnum City, though these major features were never realized. Ownership of the park shifted frequently, moving from toy manufacturer Mattel to developer Jim Monaghan, who aggressively expanded the venue with major European thrill rides. Despite these additions, the park struggled heavily to compete with the 1982 opening of Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center, which monopolized tourist itineraries in the region. Operational issues like high staff turnover, poor marketing strategy, and low cleanliness standards further contributed to a five-year decline in attendance. In 1986 publishing giant Harcourt Brace Jovanovich purchased the property and immediately closed Circus World to rebuild the site into a new concept called Boardwalk and Baseball. 

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