Probably around 30 years ago, about 6 days after Halloween, After my stash of great candy, good candy, okay candy, and not-entirely-disgusting candy were all gone, I looked into the jar in desperation and saw only Circus Peanuts, Bit-O-Honey, and Watermelon Jolly rancher, and desperately tried to get my fix from them.
dollar tree here has them once in a while so I grab a bag …its just one of the weird things I get a craving for now and then
Easily over 30 years ago. They hurt my teeth. We sell them at work though, along with some other nostalgia candy. People get so excited when they see them. It’s amusing.
I bought a bag about ten years ago. I ate a few circus peanuts until they got stale & hard. I’d guess half the bag went in the trash.
I like them. They are very, very sweet. I can only eat three or four at a time.
I had to google what the hell they even are: so never.
I’ve never heard of them in Canada.
I got some for Halloween as a kid and ate part of one. Never again.
I just bought some today. They’re popular at my office; I take a few bags in every month or three, and they get devoured the same day.
I have definitely had them in the past year. I don’t know why because they are not good, but both my brother and I find ourselves craving them once or twice a year. It only takes eating three or four to make us wonder how we could have possibly thought eating them was a good idea.
Too damn long.
Never.
Never heard of them until Cecil’s column.
Then one day I saw them in a convenience store. and remembered Cecil’s column, and they looked like something I might have when when I was a wee lad.
A few years ago, I tried caviar for what I thought was the first time ever. As soon as I had it, it instantly brought back memories of a big summer party of our lake cabin that I completely forgotten about when I was about 7 years.
Its amazing how your senses can trigger a memory.
Next time I go to that grocery store, I am going to spring for a package of circus peanuts, just to see if I had them before, and hopefully it will trigger a repressed memory.
Once. In 1960.
Or there abouts.
Thanks! I was almost afraid to say that I kind of like them. I wouldn’t eat a whole bag but 1 once in a while IS good.
They’re what I consider a “grandma candy”. Circus peanuts and spice drops!
I ate one once. For two minutes.
Never again.
Further to my above post, I managed to find this on-line, from a few years ago.
Brockles’ wife here. I see he has outed me as a Circus Peanut eater. I blame my father for encouraging this disgusting eating habit when I was too small to know better. I have indeed looked, and never found, a genuine bag of Circus Peanuts on the north side of the border. Sure, Canada has “marshmallow” snacks, and “banana flavoured snacks” and even possibly FAKE Circus Peanuts, but they aren’t at all the same. Your best bet would be to find your nearest US city, drive there, and go to the first Target/Grocery store/Walmart* or drugstore you can find. Buy as many as you can. Sure, they may go stale, but they’re usually stale when you buy them anyway. I mean, honestly, I think you could stockpile enough for ten years, and after ten years, the ones at the bottom would taste no different from the newest ones in the stores. Isn’t this part of their charm?
*Note - the Walmarts in Canada have surprised me at times - carrying candy I swear they didn’t before, stuff I thought was only available in the US. I have not found Circus Peanuts at any I’ve been to, but if I were you, depending on the urgency of the Circus Peanut craving, I would try my local one anyway.
**Unrelated note - If you do go to the US, treat yourself to some proper Oreos, too. Completely different in the states.
posted by routergirl at 1:29 PM on March 13, 2012
This makes me want to buy you some Circus Peanuts and mail them to you, but I feel that once you tasted them, you would be angry with me.
Even more reason to do so. How angry can Canadians get? My son in law is Canadian, and his anger is as a light spring zephyr compared to what I see in the States.
Besides, he’ll just thank you for the new experience. 
I agree. But you can’t trust my candy taste, because I also love licorice and those delectable clove-flavored Neccos.
Coincidently this week I saw them in a convenience store and I was very tempted to buy it. I didn’t because I didn’t want the whole bag. I would have loved to have a few. It’s been a couple of years.
Every once in a while, I get a little voice in my head, saying “It’s been a long time since you had circus peanuts.” Maybe once every 5-10 years. So I buy a bag of them and eat one. I’m immediately reminded of why I don’t eat them more often. Then I throw the remainder in the trash.