Ah that makes your candy taste impeccable.
Be PROUD of liking licorice, the flavor that strengthens and fortifies even more, those of us hearty enough to indulge in it and shrink not!! before those too weak to withstand the flavor of Ambrosia From The [SIZE=“6”]GODS![/SIZE]
Re the OP, haven’t had them in years, but as a child they were ubiquitous at Gramma and Grampa’s house and I loved them to the point of over-indulgence.
You know, it just occurred to me to be surprised that nobody has said “once, in 1960, for 20 minutes.”
(And now I see I should have read a few of the most recent posts before saying this.)
Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word ‘awsome’ that I wasn’t previously aware of.
Like a lot of previous responses, at grandma’s when I was too young to know better, so (mumble-mumble) decades.
Awesome: adjective, extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear.
Circus per se? Probably 50+ years ago. Now if we throw ballpark peanuts into the mix, that would at least three times this season.
Over 10 years ago.
I wish it was never.
Although Circus Peanuts have a special place in my heart because of a girl I am(was) friends with in college. She would walk into my room and ask the weirdest requests. She once asked for Diet Coke (why two guys would have that I’ll never know) and, by far, the oddest she asked was if we had circus peanuts. Our reaction was “What? Hell no, why would we just randomly have those around…where do they even sell them anymore?” Funny times.
They were never in my house (my parents must not have liked them, though they liked other types of candy); never in the homes of my friends, and I never got them for Halloween. So I never tried them before reaching the age of reason. And after reaching the age of reason, obviously I wouldn’t have been interested in trying them.
True confessions: Sometimes I will buy a bag of circus peanuts on purpose. :o It’s a nostalgia thing. They taste good if you don’t eat too many (two is about my limit). If you eat too many, they’re disgusting. I like to take a bite and let it kind of melt in my mouth. The texture is intriguing…there’s nothing else really like it. They shouldn’t be hard–for those people who had hard, tasteless circus peanuts at grandma’s house, maybe grandma left them in the candy dish too long and they got stale. Fresh circus peanuts are better than that. They’re softer than the marshmallows in cereal, so if you like those, you’ll probably be okay with circus peanuts.
I also like those pink wintergreen lozenge things. FYI they’re made by NECCO, so they’re the same flavor as the wintergreen NECCO wafer.
I’m off to look for a recipe for the circus peanut jello mold! I have a potluck in about two weeks, so now I know what I’m taking. 
That makes two of us, except I’m not in Canada.
Three. Australian here.
I legitimately like them, there’s something about the texture that appeals to me. But I seemingly can’t be bothered to buy them for myself. I saw a mention of peppermint circus peanuts last holiday season and would totally have bought those if I ever saw them at the store.
Bumped.
They’re not my favorite candy, but I like 'em every once in awhile. I probably have a bag once or twice a year, on average.
Circus peanuts are like Peeps. Both are best when well staled. However, it’s hard to get them stale here in south Georgia due to year-round high humidity. How stale is good and stale? Lucky Charms marshmallow bits texture is a good goal.
I take a couple of small paper bowls to hoity-toity faculty potlucks, and surreptitiously fill them with Circus Peanuts, Runts, and Sour Neon Gummy Worms. They look so refined, a stylistic contrast to the pheasant liver paté and the watercress-wrapped dates.
That’s really funny. I am gonna steal this idea from you, yes I am:)
Yes!!! Today we are two, tomorrow a collective, by next weekend, a farce to be wrekoned with!
Watch the mailbox for your initiation: a dollar-store-size bag of Circus Peanuts (pre-staled and pocket-linted).
ETA: I’ve always wanted to sneak into the kitchen and lift a couple of the hostess’s own fancy china bowls for “the colorful stuff”, but have never found extras where I could pilfer them.*
Before my dad died. He loved them, and always had them around. Not had them since.