Clifford Vargas
Posted By thecircusblog on July 18, 2009
Clifford started his career promoting circuses. One of them was the Miller Johnson circus owned by Charles Germaine. Later Clifford bought the circus hence the Vargas circus. I remember the show well as I worked for Charles two short seasons with the chimp act, and to tell you the truth his was a pretty nice guy. The jumps were easy and we got paid on time. There is a very interesting story about Charley Germaine that he himself told me. It is about how he named his circus “Miller Johnson.” You see Charley did a little time, no need to explain why. While he spent his time he met two other inmates who became friends….. there names were Miller and Johnson. I am sure you can figure out the rest of this story.
About the author
thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
4 Responses to “Clifford Vargas”
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.
Your blog is outstanding!
Here is a post about P.T. Barnum bringing his show to Sandusky in 1878:
http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=barnum
I believe before Cliff promoted for Charlie Germaine he promoted for Elfi Altoff & Rudy Jacobi on Rudy Bros. Circus. He was top of the line when it came to phone rooms and he personally trained Alan Pike who personally trained me.
I worked for Miller-Johnson and then Circus Vargas as a phone room manager in 1971-2 under the tutelage of Chris Dallas. I stumbled upon this page and was glad to see the Miller-Johnson story in print. That is the way I understood it, and now that it in on the ‘net it must be true! For those who didn’t know the M-J/Vargas operation, we did fund raisers for law enforcement orgs like Fraternal Order of Police or Police Athletic League, making the cell-mates’ name even more ironic.
I worked Hartford and New Haven CT, Pueblo, CO, Logan Utah and Anaheim, CA that I recall. Then did one show for Dallas in Tampa, FL where the show went bust on me. I have great memories of Chris Dallas.
What I learned making the show happen has served me in every job I have held since. There is no other profession like it!
I worked for Chris Dallas as a telephone sales guy in the summer of 1972. The show was at the DuPage County fairgrounds to benefit the DuPage County Sheriff’s Association. Most folks thought I was a cop so sales were good. A few complained about recent traffic tickets, though. It was the first job I ever had.